4-block stretch of U.S. Route 51 evacuated in Du Quoin

The Du Quoin Fire Department and emergency services personnel evacuated commercial properties along a four-block stretch of Rt. 51 in the middle of Du Quoin shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday after a horizontal boring machine being used to install new water lines hit an Ameren-owned underground gas line.

Du Quoin is in the middle of a $1.5 capital development project to install nearly a mile of new 8-inch water line on East and West Main Street through the business district and along Rt. 51 (Washington Street).

The GPS-guided boring machine was making an underground cut near the Hardee's Restaurant when it struck the natural gas main.

The southerly breezes carried the smell down Rt. 51.

Firefighters, utility workers and emergency services personnel were called out at 11:10 a.m., blocked the highway for four blocks and one block on either side and began evacuation of employees at Hardee's, Farm Fresh, two auto parts stores, Sears, an accounting office, a funeral home and a Western Egyptian general assistance office in the area.

Du Quoin High School also has been evacuated.

At 11:30 a.m. an Ameren construction crew was waiting for JULIE (Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators) permission to excavate the area where the underground line is leaking.

In the meantime an evacuation center was set up in the First Baptist Church on North Washington Street, about five blocks from the break.

An Ameren spokesman on scene said the repair should be made by the middle of the afternoon.

In brief

A GPS-guided boring machine was making an underground cut near Hardee's Restaurant when it struck the natural gas main.