Aquila employees dig a second hole in an attempt to shut off a gas line break in the 1700 block of Louisiana Street. The break occurred Tuesday morning.

A natural gas line was damaged by a construction crew Tuesday morning, causing the evacuation of a one-block area southwest of downtown Lawrence.

The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical were called to 17th and Louisiana streets and decided to evacuate residences along Louisiana to 18th Street, Fire Capt. Lexie Engleman said.

Aquila gas company crews were called to repair the pipeline. The situation was complicated because two feeder lines east and west of the 4-inch main line had to be bled off, Engleman said.

Crews dug two deeper holes to get to them one between Louisiana and Ohio streets on 17th and the other near 18th and Indiana streets, she said.

The all-clear was given two hours later and those evacuated from the largely residential area were allowed back to their homes, Engleman said. The number of evacuees was unknown. LRM Construction Co. crews were in the area working on streets at the time of the incident and caused the accident, Engleman said.