BEND, OR -- It was another busy day responding to gas leaks for Bend Firefighters, Tuesday. Crews were first called to a construction site at Northwest Wall and Portland (above) just before 9:30 a.m., after a backhoe severed a 2" plastic line. They say the line was difficult to locate and utility crews had been looking for it for several days. Cascade Natural Gas shut down the line within an hour. It was the second intermediate-pressure gas line strike in Bend, within a week.

About 90 minutes after that call, employees inside the Deschutes County warehouse on NW Kearney reported a broken overhead gas line supplying a heater suspended from the ceiling (pictured, right). staff evacuated and shut off the gas at the meter before crews arrived. Firefighters made sure there was no threat of explosion. 

Photos courtesy Bend Fire.