Chris Braden, who works for Black Hills Energy, wears a protective suit as he climbs out of a hole after shutting down a natural gas service line about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday at 825 Mass. Construction workers severed the service line to the building.

A natural gas line break Tuesday morning caused a brief evacuation of some businesses in the 800 block of Massachusetts Street.

During construction behind the vacant building at 825 Mass. St., a back hoe hit a gas line around 9:15 a.m., according to construction crews at the scene.

Several nearby businesses were evacuated for about 30 minutes as Black Hills Energy and Douglas County emergency crews responded, said company representative Curt Floerchinger. The company is in the process of repairing the line, he said, but all of the stores are open. Floerchinger said he does not expect any more issues for surrounding buildings while they continue to repair the line.