A one-mile stretch of San Juan Road just west of Aromas was
evacuated this morning after a vehicle ran off the road and struck
a natural gas line.
A one-mile stretch of San Juan Road just west of Aromas was evacuated this morning after a vehicle ran off the road and struck a natural gas line.
The 7:17 a.m. accident forced the California Highway Patrol to re-route commuter traffic while a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. emergency crew worked to shut off escaping gas.
The accident occurred during the morning commute on San Juan Road between Murphy Road and San Miguel Canyon Road, between Watsonville and Aromas.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Gary Kerr said the incident could have been much worse.
“We had a solo-vehicle non-injury accident,” he said. “We have no explosion, no nothing. PG&E are out here closing off the gas lines.”
Because of the urgency in evacuating the area, the driver of the vehicle was not immediately identified.
“In the interest of safety at the time we just evacuated everybody from the area because of the high volume of gas leaking,” said CHP officer Scott Jensen, the first law enforcement officer on the scene.
Kerr said it would be a few hours before it is known who was driving the vehicle that hit the gas line and what exactly happened.
He also pointed out that there was less traffic than usual on San Juan Road, which is used by many commuters as a connection between U.S. 101 and Highway 1.
“Except today is a holiday and so traffic is lighter than normal,” Kerr said.
