Employees at a building at Lawrence’s water plant near the Kansas River were evacuated Thursday morning after a natural gas smell was discovered.

“We’ve got a two-inch gas line that’s leaking,” said Jim McSwain, chief of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical. “I assume it’s been severed by something. The gas company is out there trying to stop the leak.”

McSwain said the leak was reported about 11 a.m. at the water plant, located at Third and Indiana streets.

“There’s one building that has been evacuated,” McSwain. “We’re standing by for safety reasons, in case there’s an ignition of the gas from some source. . . It’s pretty much under control.”

Firefighters were inside the buildings about 11:45 a.m., monitoring the gas leak so it doesn’t get to a dangerous level.

“They’ve cut off one source and it seems like they’re having trouble finding the secondary source. So there’s still some leakage,” McSwain said.