Ruptured Gas Line Forces Evacuations

A nursing home, day care and bowling alley were evacuated in Sandpoint on Thursday afternoon after construction workers ruptured a natural gas line.

About 50 residents of Valley Vista Care Center, formerly Mountainside Care Center, were evacuated to the nearby Veterans of Foreign Wars hall and Bonner General Hospital after the leak was reported to police at 1:47 p.m.

St. Francis day care and Sandpoint Bowl were also evacuated. Division Street was blocked off as officers routed traffic around the area.

“That gas line was supposed to be abandoned,” said an angry construction worker with Mountain View Construction, the contractor on a remodeling job for Valley Vista.

Avista, the utility that owns the gas line, was called to the scene and shut off the supply to the line.

The residents of Valley View were returned to the center by 5 p.m.