14 homes, 44 residents evacuated due to Lynnfield gas leak

Fourteen homes and about 44 residents were evacuated on Tuesday morning after a construction crew accidentally ruptured a gas line.

A Lynnfield police officer working a construction detail on Vallis Way at the intersection of Lowell Sreet reported shortly after 9 a.m. that a construction crew had struck a gas line.

Police and fire responded to the scene and quickly determined that an 8-inch gas main had been ruptured and gas was flowing freely from it.

Crews immediately began evacuating nearby homes. They said about 14 homes were evacuated in all, affecting about 44 residents. Additional personnel was called in to assist with evacuations, and an evacuation shelter was opened at the Lynnfield Senior Center.

Fire departments from Peabody, Middleton, Reading, Wakefield and Topsfield assisted at the scene, with Saugus and Salem firefighters covering Lynnfield fire stations.

Reading Municipal Light shut off power to the neighborhood as a precaution, and National Grid crews responded to stop the gas leak and check area homes for the presence of gas.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency was also notified due to the evacuations and shelter operation.

The incident is now under control, officials said, and residents were being allowed to return to their homes on Tuesday afternoon.

No injuries were reported, and the emergency shelter has closed.