Several homes evacuated, road closed due to damaged natural gas line

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Several homes have been evacuated and Roosevelt Road has been shut down after crews doing maintenance damaged a 24 inch underground gas transmission line in South Bend, according to NIPSCO.

At 10 a.m. Thursday morning, crews were working on the gas line near the intersection of Roosevelt and Mulberry roads when a large excavator truck struck and damaged the line.

Roosevelt Road between Myrtle Road and just west of Mulberry Road was closed to traffic.

Residents living within 1,000 feet of the broken line were evacuated from their homes as a precaution.

NIPSCO estimated the road will be reopened and the residents can return home around 6 p.m. Thursday.

Repairs will be done after crews isolate and remove the natural gas from the line.

Officials say there will be an after action review of the damage.

“We’ll look back to see what occurred, what can we do to make sure that we don’t have situations like these in the future. But right now the focus is on making sure we get the gas stopped and make the necessary repairs,” said NIPSCO Spokesperson Nick Meyer.