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Atmos workers to work through night restoring gas service in Durango

Workers going door to door to ignite pilot lights

Atmos Energy employees expected to work through the night Tuesday and into Wednesday to restore natural gas service to almost 800 customers.

A contractor working for Atmos hit a natural gas line near East Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street causing the outage, a statement from the company said.

“They inadvertently pulled a service line out of a main,” City Engineer Gregg Boysen said.

The outage was in an area bounded by east Fifth Street on the south, west 21st Street on the north, Camino del Rio on the west and East Fourth Avenue on the east, a statement said.

After repairs to the line were finished, workers started visiting businesses and residences to shut off each meter at 4 p.m., Atmos Energy spokesman Darwin Winfield said.

Once the system is repressurized and all the air is blown out, workers needed to return to relight appliances at residences and businesses. This process can take several hours.

Someone 18 years old or older must be present for the restoration work, the Atmos release said.

Those who wanted service restored Tuesday night were asked to leave their porch light on, Atmos spokesman Darwin Winfield said.

About 20 to 30 employees came from across the state to help with the effort, he said.

He did not have a timeline for service to be fully restored.

Tuesday morning, Durango firefighters were monitoring repairs to the 6-inch line because it had gas in it. But firefighters left around 1 p.m. because the gas in the broken line had been cleared, Fire Marshal Karola Hanks said.

Many restaurants along Main Avenue were affected by the outage and closed for dinner.

Carver Brewing Co. was serving mostly salads because of the outage, manager Dasha Greidanus said.

“We’ve also been able to accommodate more than we thought,” she said.

She received several calls from people with other restaurants on Main Avenue asking about the outage.

“I think that means that Atmos is not communicating very well,” she said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com

To contact Atmos

If an Atmos employee did not restore service Tuesday night, you can schedule an early morning appointment by calling 866-322-8667.

During regular business hours, call the customer service center at 888-286-6700.

If you smell gas, leave the area immediately and from a safe distance call 911 or the Atmos Energy emergency line at 866-322-8667.

Oct 25, 2016
City Council weighs in on gas outage that hits hundreds
Sep 29, 2016
Handful of customers remain without natural gas service
Sep 28, 2016
Natural gas service restoration continues in Durango


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