Construction equipment that hit gas line causes fiery inferno in Southwest Atlanta

ATLANTA — A ruptured gas line next to a gas station caught fire Wednesday morning causing an inferno in Southwest Atlanta.

The flames that started underground, ended up erupting through the pavement along Sylvan Road, engulfing a car and causing a nearby daycare to evacuate.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes went out to the scene Wednesday morning as the flames were still active and said the whole area smelled of smoke and gas.

[PHOTOS: Broken gas line catches on fire, sets roadway, cars on fire in Southwest Atlanta]

From NewsChopper2 you could see the gas from the gas leak and diesel fuel from a diesel fuel pump pouring down the street.

Fernandes learned it all started when a piece of construction equipment hit a gas line.

It took Atlanta Fire and Rescue about two hours to put the fire out. It started around 10:30 a.m.

“The gas station was our No. 1 priority as far as an exposure, and that’s why we had hose lines on it,” Chief Matt Driver with Atlanta Fire and Rescue said.

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Two people who were inside the car that was caught in the flames got out safely.

Firefighters kept the flames from spreading to the nearby gas station, although things got scary when a diesel fuel pump started on fire.

Fire officials evacuated the area including the Amazing Learning Lab daycare.

Channel 2 Action News was there as Good Samaritans helped 15 children get out of the building by wheeling wooden cribs down the road, and helped the older kids jump over this stream of gas and diesel.

The manager of the dry cleaner next door to the daycare said the fire was terrifying.

“You should’ve seen me running out of that dry cleaner,” the manager said, not identifying themself. “I had to turn the stuff off in there because we run gas, so I had to immediately get us out of there. And then they came down the kids, so I helped them with the kids.”

Despite all of the chaos the incident caused, no one was injured. Parts of Sylvan Road are expected to remain closed throughout the night for repairs.

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