We Energies Restores Power after Gas Leak on Hawley Road

We Energies responded to a gas leak on West Wisconsin Avenue and Hawley Road at 3:22 PM Friday.

The utility company says a construction crew hit a gas main near Wisconsin and Hawley which started a leak.

There was a large power outage on West Side. More than 6,000 customer lost power.

Homes along a two block radius were evacuated.

Police also rerouted traffic and there were huge back ups since this happened during the evening rush hour.

"Our crews were able to downgrade the situation," said Kathy Schulze of We Energies. "What they did was shut off two different valves. They  were able to stop the flow of gas making the area safe."

The intersections involved included  45th and Wisconsin, 60th and Vliet, 60th and  Lloyd, Hawley and Washington Blvd.,  Hawley and Wells and Hawley and Wisconsin.

Power was restored to some 4,000 customers by 5:15 p.m.

The rest of service was restored by 6 p.m.

We Energies did check out several homes for gas readings in the air to determined it was safe before allowing folks to return.

"We heard a boom," recalled resident Jennifer Lilly. "At first I didn't think anything of it and then I just saw dust flying from the gas pouring out. You could see it coming out from the trees moving."