Jacksonville Police had to block off portions of Lafayette Avenue and vacate a small number of homes due to a gas leak yesterday afternoon. The police department received a call at 1:43PM yesterday from an employee of Brent Milnes Plumbing & Heating working on an excavation project. The employee said they had just backed into a gas main causing it to leak.
Jacksonville Fire and Ameren-Illinois responded to the scene in the 500 block of Lafayette Avenue at about 2PM and began containment. Ameren shut down gas and electricity along the street and to an undetermined amount of homes in the area. Ameren also advised that a small number of homes should be evacuated out of precaution. Jacksonville Police shut down traffic for 2.5 hours on Lafayette Avenue between North Fayette and North Prairie Street while the leak was contained.
Power was restored and residents were able to return to their homes at approximately 5PM.