UPDATE 4/4/13 at 7:30 PM:  Main Street in Kimberly is now open.

UPDATE 4/4/13 at 5:18 PM:  According to Idaho Police Department, the 100 block of Main Street in Kimberly is closed at this time.  This is in the area where they are building a new health clinic. Intermountain Gas crews are currently repairing an earlier natural gas leak in this area.  At this time, no word as to the exact time the road will reopen.

News Radio 1310 KLIX reported news earlier today that a natural gas leak caused the 3rd through 5th grades in Kimberly, Idaho to be evacuated. At the time, school officials believed the gas leak had been contained.

Now KMVT is reporting that portions of Kimberly have been closed because of the leak.

Here's the official statement from Intermountain Gas on the incident:

A contractor accidentally struck a ½” natural gas service line in Kimberly, Idaho, at 147 N. Chesnut St this morning. As a safety precaution, the nearby schools just west of the line break area were evacuated until gas reads could be taken, and the buildings deemed safe for occupancy.

The line break was close enough to the 4” steel gas main running in the alley behind the N. Chesnut St. property to require a shut-down of portions of Intermountain’s natural gas system in Kimberly to allow for a safe repair.

This shut down will curtail natural gas service to approximately 120 customers while the line break is repaired. Crews from Twin Falls, Hailey, and Pocatello are being dispatched to Kimberly.

The repairs will begin this afternoon, and are expected to be completed this evening. When the repair is completed and the system re-pressured, Intermountain Gas personnel will begin relighting each customer’s natural gas equipment.

(via KMVT)

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