WFAA-TV

A large section of downtown McKinney was evacuated.

McKINNEY — McKinney police and firefighters evacuated an eight-block area of downtown Wednesday morning after an excavation crew ruptured a natural gas line.

All businesses and residents surrounding the old courthouse square — including all businesses and McKinney City Hall — were cleared after the two-inch gas line was severed by a city crew working on a sewer replacement project just before 8 a.m.

The construction is part of an extensive renovation of streets on and around the historic square.

City employees who showed up for work were not allowed into the building. Downtown business owners like Patsy Black were also shut out.

"There was a fireman and he was telling everybody what happened and he said that a gas line had been hit," Black said.

Several citizens showed up at City Hall to pay their bills, but they were turned away.

"I would rather have them take those extra measures to keep everybody in our community safe," said Julie Mahurin.

Atmos Energy crews called to repair the leak expected to have the gas flowing again by noon.

Utility officials said gas line ruptures caused by construction crews are common in North Texas, with up to 15 reported every day.

One person was killed and two others were injured May 16 when a natural gas leak in McKinney resulted in an explosion. No homes had been evacuated prior to the blast at Throckmorton and Fenet streets.

Atmos Energy and one of its subcontractors face up to $80,000 in fines as a result of violations linked to that incident.

E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com