THUNDER BAY – A "significant" natural gas line break in the downtown North Core that caused an evacuation on Friday afternoon has been brought under control.
Buildings on St. Paul Street were evacuated after a gas line ruptured shortly after 2 p.m. and the Thunder Bay Police Service closed down portions of Cumberland Street and Red River Road.
A Union Gas representative said the incident stemmed from a break in a pipe leading into an abandoned commercial building on St. Paul Street but no cause has yet been determined.
Over the six-hour cooperative effort with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue to contain the leak, Union Gas did not cease service for any other buildings in the area.
"We will conduct an investigation as to what caused the leak," said Union Gas' northwest district manager Nick Klip.
"We were quite happy we were able to avoid an interruption of services to our customers."
City buses were rallied to keep evacuees warm through the Environment Canada-issued extreme cold warning. Temperatures during the incident hit -19 C with the wind chill making it feel like -30 C.
