Pearl River residents found themselves having to detour around a small section of Washington Avenue on Thursday afternoon.
Premier Utility Services—who is a subcontractor of Orange and Rockland Utilities—hit a gas pipe during construction around noon on Thursday.
"We evacuated the four or five houses in the area," said Pearl River Assistant Chief Doug Sampath. He added that he got the call at 11:54 a.m. "One resident complained of a headache and the medics checked her out, but she refused medical attention."
"We're replacing the old gas line with a new one because the old one has been leaking," said one contractor. He added that the old gas line is fragile and the pipe was broken by hand.