A break in a natural gas line in Castaic shut down the 5 Freeway for nearly four hours Saturday, while area residents were ordered to shelter in place.
As fire and hazardous materials crews worked to seal the leak from a Southern California Gas Company 34-inch transmission pipeline, the smell of rotten eggs spread across large swaths of the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys.
No injuries were reported in the incident, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Brian Kight.
The fire department received multiple reports of the explosion around 4:20 p.m. near Ridge Route Road and Pine Crest Place, just south of Northlake Hills Elementary School.
Videos posted on social media showed orange columns rising from a hillside that appeared to have partially collapsed.
SoCalGas has not yet determined the cause of the rupture, a spokesperson said in a statement, but noted that significant ground movements had been observed near the rupture.
Several callers told ABC 7 Eyewitness News they heard loud bangs in the Castaic area. Others compared the sound to the roar of a jet engine.
A strong smell of gasoline quickly reached Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 149, about a mile up the road. The Los Angeles Fire Department had several residents many miles away in the northern San Fernando Valley report a smell of rotten eggs.
The LAFD said the leak did not pose an immediate threat to the city. The county Fire Department said the odor is not harmful and that county hazardous materials personnel were monitoring air quality.
The CHP closed all lanes of the 5 Freeway near Castaic from approximately 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and diverted all northbound traffic to State Route 126, while all southbound traffic was sent to State Route 138.
During the closure, traffic along the 5th and SR-138 slowed to a near standstill for miles, leaving motorists stranded for hours.
Some motorists traveling over the holiday weekend resorted to water bottles and Styrofoam cups to relieve themselves, which they quickly tossed out the door. Others darted into the nearby bushes for some privacy.
A gas line ruptured near Northlake Hills Elementary School in Castaic on Saturday.
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The shelter-in-place orders, issued at 5:40 p.m., covered approximately 15 square miles of Castaic and advise residents to close all doors, windows and vents, and turn off HVAC systems.
After SoCalGas shut down both sides of the ruptured gas line, a hazardous materials task force worked with SoCalGas crews and firefighters to contain residual leaks.
Stay-at-home orders were lifted around 9:50 p.m.
SoCalGas received no reports of residential natural gas customers experiencing outages due to the rupture, the spokesperson said.
