RICHMOND, Va. -- Firefighters evacuated four buildings near Cummings Drive and Hardy Street in Richmond Wednesday morning after a gas leak was reported. About 200 people waited outside while crews worked for more than four hours to repair the broken gas main. A spokesperson for the Richmond City Department of Utilities said gas started to leak out of a pipe in the middle of the intersection around 9 a.m. People who work in the area said they smelled gas, but that that was nothing new.
"They had investigated the area many times over last few years for gas leaks," Greg Frederick, owner of Architectural Outfitters on Cummings Drive, explained. "We've been in this location for four years and gas is not uncommon to smell, but it is uncommon to smell it to the extent we did this morning."
Department of Utilities said the gas main broke because of its age and the recent change in temperatures.
