Natural Gas Line Rupture Closes Century Boulevard In Inglewood For Hours

INGLEWOOD, CA — A ruptured natural gas line by a contracted caused a closure of a major thoroughfare in Inglewood on Wednesday and some evacuations, authorities said.

The rupture was reported around 9:30 a.m. in the 3300 block of Century Boulevard and was caused by a "third-party" contractor, SoCalGas said. Century Boulevard was closed between Club Drive and Crenshaw Boulevard for crews to repair the line.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the fire department evacuated about 50 to 60 people from nearby businesses," SoCalGas spokeswoman Melissa Bailey said.

No service outages were reported, she said.

Utility crews got the flow of gas stopped by about 2 p.m. and evacuations were lifted soon after, Bailey said.

Century Boulevard was reopened about 2:30 p.m., she said, though crews remained on site making permanent repairs.

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