Broken natural gas line prompts evacuations in Juniper Ridge — again

Kamloops Fire Rescue. (via Brendan Kergin)

Six to seven homes have been evacuated in Juniper Ridge after a contractor damaged a natural gas line this morning (June 24).

Diana Sorace, a spokesperson for FortisBC, says homes on Emerald Drive were evacuated due to the incident on Qu'Appelle Boulevard as a precaution while Fortis crews worked on the damaged pipe.

"A third party contractor was working; they damaged one of our natural gas lines while they were working," she says. "The leak was caused by the damaged gas line."

Kamloops Fire Rescue and RCMP were called to help control the situation and evacuate the homes. The intersection of Qu'Appelle Boulevard and Myra Place was shut down as well.

.@FortisBC tells @KamloopsMatters that 6-7 homes were evacuated on Emerald Drive because of a natural gas leak. A third-party contractor was working and damaged the line. This is the second incident in 12 days. #Kamloops

— Tereza Verenca (@tverenca) June 24, 2019

Cpl. Jodi Shelkie of the Kamloops RCMP says the situation is "coming to an end" as of 10:30 a.m.

Last week a natural gas leak was reported in the same area, though Sorace notes it was about a block away.

She says most natural gas leaks are caused by similar situations.

"FortisBC would like to remind the public that the majority of those damages are preventable," she says. "Call or click before you dig."