Gas Main

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. workers reported finding hundreds more homes in Overlea affected by Saturday's dual water and gas main breaks, while angry residents demanded answers last night about who would pay for the damage and when gas service would resume. Some of the nearly 200 residents attending an emergency community meeting at Fullerton Elementary School shouted, "Class action lawsuit!" when a representative from the Baltimore Department of Public Works tried to speak. "We don't know right now who's responsible," said DPW spokesman Kurt L. Kocher.

Traffic in downtown Baltimore was being effected Wednesday morning by Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. crews blocking lanes of S. Charles Street between Pratt and Lombard streets for emergency repairs to a 12-inch-wide gas main, according to Rachael Lighty, a company spokeswoman. Lane closures will be in effect "until the work is complete," Lighty said. No estimate for when that will occur was given. Also Wednesday morning, a two-vehicle collision on Interstate 95 in Howard County, prior to Route 175, had closed one lane and the right-hand shoulder as of 8:30 a.m., according to the state Department of Transportation.

A swath of the Millhill neighborhood of Southwest Baltimore lost natural gas and water service early Tuesday — and gas outages may continue for several days, according to the utility operators. At around 3:30 a.m., while Baltimore Department of Public Works crews were working on a 10-inch water main in the 300 block of Millington Ave., a 4-inch gas line was broken, statements from the DPW and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said Tuesday afternoon. About 100 homes lost water along Millington Avenue between Frederick and Wilkens avenues and Ashton Street between Millington Avenue and Catherine Street, according to the DPW. Water was also shut off at a senior community in the 400 block of Millington Ave. and at Frederick Elementary School.

A road that is normally bustling with traffic was shut down. An auto dealership's lot had plenty of cars, but just about no one there to buy them. And with the smell of natural gas hanging in the air, an office building was evacuated. "I'm freaking out a little bit," said Jana Cowperthwaite, who was among the workers asked to leave the Prosperity Mortgage Corp. offices in Lutherville yesterday. The disruption in the daily routine along York Road in Lutherville was caused by a rupture to a 6-inch gas main.

John and Susan Serp had just awakened early yesterday when a firefighter started pounding on their front door, telling them they had to evacuate. Minutes before, a neighbor on Chumleigh Road in Rodgers Forge, just north of the city line, had called the Baltimore County Fire Department to report the smell of natural gas. But John Serp didn't want to leave the house - his wife has emphysema and uses an oxygen tank. "It was kind of scary, but I can't blame them for being concerned," he said.

After paying out more than $1.2 million in claims to 40 homeowners in a Westminster neighborhood that was damaged a natural gas explosion last winter, 16 insurance companies ++ want their money back from those they say caused the blast.The insurers of homes in Autumn Ridge filed a lawsuit in Carroll Circuit Court last week claiming that the Jan. 19 explosion -- which destroyed a vacant house and damaged more than 60 others -- was caused by negligence on the part of a Howard County company that was digging a trench for Prestige Cable Television of Maryland Inc.In addition to Reid Oliver, the subcontractor who was digging the trench that morning, and Prestige, the suit names as a defendant Maryland Underground Inc., the contractor hired by Prestige to lay television cable.

FireMount Airy: Firefighters responded at 9: 31 a.m. Thursday to a broken natural gas main in the 1200 block of Leafy Hollow Circle. Units were out 28 minutes.Pub Date: 4/28/97

Natural gas service has been restored to almost all customers affected by the gas main break Monday in Locust Point, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said Thursday. South Baltimore customers who still lack service should contact BGE at 1-800-685-0123 to schedule an appointment for mechanics to reactivate their meters and light pilots on gas appliances, according to a statement by the utility. More than 200 people, including personnel from utilities outside Maryland, worked to restore gas service, which was disrupted Monday after a bridge contractor accidentally broke a 12-inch gas main in the 1200 block of E. Fort Ave. steve.kilar@baltsun.com twitter.com/stevekilar

FIRE* Westminster: Westminster responded to a call of wires on fire in the first block of N. Court St. at 5:47 p.m. Tuesday. Units were out for seven minutes.Westminster and Reese responded to a gas line leak in the first block of Bond St., where crews are installing a larger natural gas main, at 10:44 a.m. Monday. Units were out for 15 minutes.

Gas main break closes section of Belair Road A gas main break in the Fullerton area of Baltimore County closed about four blocks of Belair Road yesterday, police said. A contractor working in the area struck a gas main in the 8400 block of Belair Road about 1 p.m., BGE officials said. Authorities were forced to close both lanes of Belair Road from Dunfield Road to Ridgelys Choice Drive as BGE crews fixed the main, county police said. No one was evacuated and no injuries occurred, officials said.