Both lanes of Highway 82 east of Aspen near Difficult Campground were stopped for an hour Thursday afternoon due to a gas leak from a nearby residential construction project.
Westbound traffic was backed up toward Independence Pass and eastbound traffic was stalled back toward Aspen as Black Hills Energy crews worked to repair the line. A Pitkin County alert provided notice of the temporary road closure at 1:36 p.m. while another alert at 2:37 p.m. declared that the road was open again.
Jake Andersen, assistant fire chief for the Aspen Fire Protection District, said he made the tough call on the traffic stoppage for safety reasons because the leak was only about 50 feet from the highway. A residential construction crew accidentally severed a two-inch gas line at a new house being built on Difficult Lane, he said, which prompted the call to emergency dispatchers.
Black Hills Energy responded quickly to the scene, he said, and a 300-foot area surrounding the leak was evacuated. Difficult Campground was not evacuated but authorities kept people from leaving or entering the campground while the repair work was underway.
“We immediately moved people out of the area where we could smell the gas,” Andersen said. “It was a significant amount of gas.”
He said Aspen Fire responded with two engines, a rescue vehicle and a command vehicle. Aspen Ambulance and the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene. Ten members of the fire department responded to the location from the downtown and North 40 fire stations, while those stations received back up from other personnel.
“There was excellent collaboration between agencies to resolve this incident quickly and safely,” Andersen said.
Black Hills Energy could not be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon. Andersen said he didn’t know why the construction crew was digging in the area where the leak occurred, but he assumed it was for the purpose of reaching utility connections.
He said stopping traffic on the highway was a difficult but necessary decision given the proximity of the leaking line to the highway. Fire personnel worked to ensure there were no ignition sources in the immediate area, Andersen said.
“These calls are tough. They’re never a huge deal until they are. We always err on the side of safety,” Andersen said.
After the gas line was clamped and traffic was allowed to resume, motorists in both directions were able to pass through the area efficiently without further hold-ups, he added.
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September 10, 2021 at 04:00PM
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