Gas Pipe Rupture Forces Building Evacuations

Several hundred office workers in the vicinity of the 500 block of D Street NW got to go home early today after a construction crew ruptured a gas line in the area this afternoon. Fire crews responded to a call of a large gas leak at about 2 p.m., and several buildings in the area of 6th, 7th & D Streets and Indiana Ave. NW were evacuated as a precaution, according to D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer. Some of those streets were also closed to traffic while the Washington Gas Co. worked to repair the leak. Most of the evacuated buildings were cleared for re-entry by about 3:30 p.m., but some streets remained closed for the rush hour.