UPDATED: Menlo Park Gas Line Rupture Leads to Road Closure, School 'Shelter in Place' Order

UPDATE 8 P.M.:

A gas leak on a main road in Menlo Park was capped Wednesday afternoon and the road has been partially reopened, fire and utility officials said.

The leak was originally reported at 12:24 p.m. near Willow Road and Ivy Drive involving a 1-inch plastic service line, PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said. Guidi said the leak was capped at 2:34 p.m.

Eastbound Willow Road has reopened, but the westbound lanes remained closed in the area, Menlo Park Fire Protection District officials said.

Fire officials said preliminary reports indicate the cause of the leak was an unseen gas line that was struck by a telecommunications company running fiber optic lines in a horizontal boring operation.

Nearby Mid-Peninsula High School, located at 1340 Willow Road, was ordered to shelter in place as a result of the leak. The campus was already mostly empty because students were at various local organizations as part of the school’s Community Service Day, a school employee said.

Parents were told to pick up students at the Facebook campus entrance on Chilco Street during the road closure, fire officials said.

Crews were expected to finish the repairs in the area by around 4 p.m., according to Guidi.

ORIGINAL STORY AS FOLLOWS:

A gas leak was reported this afternoon in Menlo Park, a San Mateo County fire dispatcher said. Fire crews responded at 12:29 p.m. to a report that a contractor struck a gas line near 1350 Willow Road, the dispatcher said.

No injuries have been reported and PG&E crews are en route to the scene, the dispatcher said.

By Bay City News

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