Evacuation order in West End area largely lifted after crews halt natural gas leak

The west end area in Downtown Dallas was under an evacuation order Tuesday after reports of an underground gas leak, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue officials.

Jason Evans, department spokesman, said fire crews were dispatched shortly after 9 a.m. to the scene near the 300 block of north Market Street. A number of agencies were working the incident, including DFR’s HazMat team, Atmos Energy, Oncor and Dallas police.

According to Evans, the leak stemmed from a 6 to 8 inch gas main, and caused at least two residential and two commercial buildings to be evacuated.

The evacuations have temporarily displaced between 270 and 300 people, Evans said, and repairs are expected to take about six hours.

As crews work to mitigate the leak and vent the impacted buildings, Evan said the quadrant between the following intersections has been closed off:

• Ross Ave./ S Houston St.
• Munger Ave./N Lamar St.
• Ross Ave./N Lamar St.
• S Houston St./Elm St.

In an email, Dallas police said officers were requested by DFR to assist with traffic in the area. Atmos Energy did not immediately respond to The News’ email requests for more information.

This is a developing story and will be updated.