5 Freeway Reopens In LA County Hours After Gas Line Rupture

The Golden State (5) Freeway in Castaic reopened Saturday night nearly five hours after a gas line rupture shut down traffic and caused a massive jam, authorities said.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department confirmed a natural gas leak, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, and firefighters and gas company crews were working to contain it. There have been no injuries reported as of 9 p.m.

The rupture was reported in the area of Ridge Route Road and Pine Crest Place about 4:15 p.m., NBC4 reported.

Video shared on X by multiple users showed gas noisily spewing from line after the rupture and blowing dirt in the process.

Residents told ABC Eyewitness News that they also heard what sounded like a jet engine after the rupture.

Multiple people reported hearing loud booms from about 4:15 p.m. until about 5 p.m., several news reports said, and the odor of natural gas was strong in the immediate area around the leak.

The ruptured line was a transmission gas line, CBS News reported. It prompted a shelter-in-place request to residents within a one-mile radius of the gas line, the report said, quoting Los Angeles County fire officials.

The transmission line is a 36-inch underground pipeline, Austin Dave, a reporter with KeyNewsTV, wrote on X. His report said there was a large landslide in the area of the rupture, but it was not clear if the landslide caused the rupture or the rupture caused the landslide.

The 5 was closed in both directions about 4:30 p.m. and traffic was being diverted to State Route 126 for northbound traffic and State Route 138 for southbound traffic, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The closures were lifted shortly before 9 p.m., with CHP announcing the reopening by saying, "GOOD NEWS! SIGALERT CANCELLED IN CASTAIC."

It appeared authorities were looking for ways to get motorists caught in the closure out of the area as of 6:30 p.m., where people had been sitting for nearly two hours.

One driver tweeted that he was stuck for 90 minutes. "CHP finally routed us down a small fire road that dumped us back on I5 north. Heading to Antelope Valley now to get back to LA via 14," Brian Mercer wrote.

The Los Angeles city fire department said multiple residents in Granada Hills, Porter Ranch and Sylmar called reporting a smell of natural gas but said there was no danger to the city.

Gov. Gavin Newsom had been informed of the gas line rupture and was being kept up to date on the situation, his press office said in a tweet. The California Office of Emergency Services said it was working with authorities "to protect public safety for the communities near the pipeline rupture in Castaic."

"This situation is very dynamic. Listen to local authorities," Cal OES said.