An apartment building at Kansas University’s Stouffer Place had to be evacuated shortly after noon Saturday after a truck rolled into and broke two natural gas meters.

The truck was unoccupied and had apparently slipped out of gear when it rolled backward out of a parking place, down an incline and against the back of the building in the 1700 block of Bagley Street.

In addition to damaging the gas meters, the truck also knocked out a bathroom window to an apartment.

The truck’s owner, whose name wasn’t released, got into the truck and drove it away from the apartment and parked it back in a parking space, said Sgt. Bob Williams of the KU Public Safety Office.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical arrived at the scene, and the gas to the building was shut off.

The man who lived in the damaged apartment declined to give his name but said he and his family had been preparing to leave when the accident occurred. He said he and another occupant alerted other residents to get out of the building because of the gas smell.

There were 12 apartments in the building but not all of them were occupied at the time, witnesses said. Occupants were allowed back in after the fire department determined that gas levels in the air had returned to normal.

Williams said no citations against the truck owner were expected to be issued.