About 300 households and businesses in Sunset Park were affected by a natural gas outage last week, according to SoCalGas.
A lightning strike during a storm Wednesday fused a water pipe and a gas line in the neighborhood, said city of Santa Monica spokesperson Constance Farrell. Water leaked into gas lines in the area of Ocean Park Boulevard and 17th Street and customers lost gas service by 3 p.m., said SoCalGas spokesperson Patrice Clayton.
Clayton said the city repaired its water pipe Thursday and SoCalGas crews began working Friday to remove more than 10,000 gallons of water from gas lines in Sunset Park.
"SoCalGas employees have been working well into the night to safely restore gas to each affected home," she said.
Gas service has since been restored to 270 customers and it may take until Tuesday or Wednesday to restore service to the remaining 30 customers, Clayton said. It takes one to two hours to restore service in each home.
"Technicians are going door to door in the affected area and restoring service if customers are home," she said. "If a customer is not home when the service technician arrives, the technician will leave a notice requesting the customer call our 800 number to schedule their service restoration."
For safety reasons, customers should never attempt to restore gas service themselves, Clayton added.
On Monday, SoCalGas public affairs employees were deployed to the neighborhood to assist with any customer inquiries, said SoCalGas spokesperson Mike Harriel. Informational fliers have been posted on doors and SoCalGas' Twitter account has provided information regarding service restoration in the area.
Resident April Burgomaster, who went for five days without gas, said her family bundled up in their house during the chilly weekend.
"We had no heating, no cooking, no hot water and no dryer — the things you rely upon in our modern world," she said.
Burgomaster added that she received no written notice from SoCalGas on when her service would be restored.
"There was a lack of information," she said. "We tried calling them, but they didn't give us much. I will say that the crews worked their butts off — they were here every day until 10 p.m."
Customers seeking information about their gas service can call SoCalGas at 1-877-238-0092.
madeleine@smdp.com
