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Downey residents affected by a natural gas leak Thursday should expect evacuations to continue overnight, officials said.
The leak prompted a small evacuation but a wide warning alert after a contractor cut a gas main in a residential area, authorities said.
Downey’s fire and police departments arrived at Stewart and Gray Road and Rives Avenue at 10:32 a.m., said Tracy Gonzales, the Fire Department’s supervisor of communications. Southern California Gas responded shortly after and have worked with first responders to stop the flow of gas from the severed 6-inch main line.
At 3 p.m., SoCalGas estimated it would take four hours to cap the leak, said Juddy Montenegro, Downey’s public information officer. At about 8:30 p.m., the fire officials said repairs would take another eight hours.