Gas leak forces evacuations in West Oak Lane

WEST OAK LANE (WPVI) -- Ten people had to be evacuated from their homes after a gas leak in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia.

The incident happened around 1 a.m. Thursday when a 4-inch main ruptured on the 7200 block of North 21st Street.

An alert neighbor is credited for smelling the gas and calling for help.

"And once I got out of the house, I really did smell that strong smell of gas and it was nerve-racking," said Lisa Woods.

Fire, PGW and PECO crews arrived on the scene. Their meters detected high levels of natural gas.

The source of the leak was found in the sidewalk and lawn area of one of the homes.

Four homes were evacuated as a precaution, leaving ten people displaced.

One person complained about a headache and dizziness and was taken to the hospital. He is expected to be okay.

The residents displaced went to a nearby restaurant that opened their doors for them to wait.

Battalion Chief Tom Verros of the Philadelphia Fire Department said, "This time everything worked at pretty good. No one was hurt. The main was capped, and we are going to take some readings to make sure there's no natural gas in the homes."

It took crews several hours to fix the break.

Service was restored around 6:40 a.m., and that's when residents were allowed to go home.