July 25, 2016
A gas leak forced the temporary evacuation of two buildings on the Ball State campus Monday. The accident happened around 2 p.m. Monday, just outside the Applied Technology Building, on West Riverside Avenue said University Police Chief James Duckham.
The buildings were reopened in less than an hour.
About 50 people were evacuated from the Applied Technology and Teachers College buildings and temporarily relocated to the Art and Journalism Building, he said. They were allowed to return to the buildings about 2:45 p.m.
The incident occurred when contractors working on the south side of the Applied Technology building accidentally nicked a natural gas line while trying to locate it, said Jim Lowe, associate vice president for facilities planning and management.
Vectren Energy employees responded and contained the leak. The line will be repaired, Lowe said, and work at that site will resume.
In addition to Vectren and the University Police Department, the Muncie Fire and Muncie Police departments responded, Duckham said.