An SUV crashed into a gas line at the West Mifflin Estates apartment complex, evacuating dozens of residents from the apartment.
According to witnesses the driver lost control of the vehicle driving down Lebanon School Road. He drove into a bush, crashed through a wooden fence, hit the back of the apartment building and slammed into the gas meter. The crash caused a gas leak.
According to the West Mifflin police chief, a call came in as a medical emergency, but it's now being investigated as a possible DUI. The driver didn’t know where he was when he was taken away in handcuffs.
The Red Cross is helping the people who had to evacuate.
The gas meter wasn’t the only thing hit. A spokesperson with Peoples Gas confirmed the driver also hit a service line that goes from their main line into the meter and a house line that goes from the meter into appliances inside the building. It is up to building management to fix those the spokesperson said.
The residents cannot return to the building until the gas lines and meter are fixed and the gas is back on, building maintenance has to fix the house lines and the service line before Peoples Gas can repair the meter.
The driver is under investigation for driving under the influence but has not been charged at this time.