One Injured In Gas Line Break Fire

A Southern California Gas Co. employee suffered minor burns Wednesday when a gas line caught fire in a gated Palm Desert neighborhood.

Firefighters responded at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday to a report of a fire on Avellino Circle at the Desert Falls Country Club, which is located just east of Cook Street at Country Club Drive, according to Riverside County Fire's Cheri Patterson.

A resident had smelled gas earlier in the day and called the Southern California Gas Co., according Deborah McGarrey, spokesperson for SoCal Gas.

While emergency workers were checking the leak on the two-inch plastic gas line, it caught fire, injuring one employee. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor burns, McGarrey said.

As many as 13 homes remained without gas, she said.

Flames shot more than 10 feet high, according to a Tina Livingston, who lives on the street.

“You could smell (the gas) in the air,” Livingston said, adding that she was concerned for her elderly neighborhoods on the street.

Thirty-three nearby homes were evacuated, temporarily displacing a little less than 50 people, according to Fire Capt. Mike Smith.

As many as 22 firefighters were able to quickly contain the flames, Smith said.