Fire and police officials evacuated Maggie's Restaurant and residents of the nearby Carroll View Apartments after a gas line was cut by construction workers on Washington Road near East George Street Friday afternoon.
A construction crew working on Washington Road, a continuation of an East Main Street construction project, struck a 1 1/4 -inch Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. gas line at 3:38 p.m., sending 15 customers and 18 employees of the restaurant outside when the fumes flooded the building.
Fire officials also ordered the evacuation of nearby apartments as light winds carried the fumes toward the buildings. The exact number forced out of their apartments was not known, they said.
City police cordoned off the area and detoured traffic around the site. Fire equipment from Westminster, Reese, Pleasant Valley and a ladder truck from Hampstead were dispatched to the site. No one was injured.
Fire officials notified BGE to respond and shut off the gas as the fumes permeated the area.
Bystanders were told not to light matches.
Fire officials set up a shelter for people from the apartments who did not have anywhere to go in the 40-degree weather.
The gas line was shut off at 5:59 p.m. and the residents of the apartments were allowed to return to their homes, although the area remained without gas service for several hours. Maggie's reopened Friday evening.