Gas leak shuts down Route 1 in Saugus

SAUGUS – Firefighters were forced to shut down Route 1 both north and south Tuesday morning after workers struck a gas line in front of Jo-ann Fabrics.Construction crews working on the new CVS/Jo-ann Fabrics site along Route 1 south ruptured a high-pressure gas line with an excavator around 9 a.m. Fire Chief James Blanchard said the line was essentially in the sidewalk, which he called the worst possible spot.”The roar sounded like a jet engine,” he said. “The guy that hit it jumped out and ran, which I don’t blame him. I would have, too.”Saugus responded with Capt. Arthur Sinclair leading the charge, two engines and Wakefield came in to help out. Hoses were run from three different hydrants and Blanchard said large central stream was laid down to keep the gas from drifting to the northbound side of the roadway.Blanchard said firefighters aimed at keeping the gas on the southbound side because once Jo-ann Fabrics was evacuated there was only property that could be damaged.Across the street were the Midwest Grill, Red Roof Inn, Kowloon’s Restaurant and other businesses that contained a lot of people as well as a lot of property.Blanchard said the concern was that the gas would find an ignition source and if that happened the gas would light up and follow the trail back to the source. That would have resulted in a 30-foot flame shooting skyward.Blanchard said once the gas company arrived it was able to crimp the line and after digging around under the excavator, they found a shut off valve and shut down the gas.”The northbound lane was reopened pretty quick,” Blanchard said. “It took a little longer for the southbound lane.”Blanchard said it’s his men who made the call to shut down the major roadway and reroute the traffic, which Police Lt. Mike Anise admitted caused a few headaches.Anise said traffic headed north was rerouted at Bob’s Stores and sent through Saugus Center. Traffic headed south was cut off at Kelly’s Roast Beef and sent down the Lynn Fells Parkway.The problem, however, was traffic headed down the Fellsway was not allowed to make a left turn onto Main Street because the roadway runs parallel to Route 1 just behind Jo-ann Fabrics.”They had to go straight or make a right,” Anise said. “The State Police were a big help and we had to call in some of our guys on overtime.”While some drivers were not happy with the slowdown Anise said they got through it, everything worked out and most importantly no one was injured.”It kept us pretty busy for a while,” Blanchard added.