A gas leak at the construction site for the Pomona College Museum of Art caused evacuations around the area Wednesday afternoon.

A construction company working on the site ruptured a two-inch high-pressure gas main just before 2 p.m., according to Inspector Joey Marron of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Inspector Marron noted the break was accidental, and there were no injuries or any threats of imminent danger or explosion. Fire crews were hooked up to a hydrant on College Avenue as a precaution, he said.

The leak was fixed around 8 p.m. after a special team from So Cal Gas was brought in, according to Claremont police. 

Buildings within a one-block radius of the intersection of College and Bonita avenues are being evacuated as a precaution, police said in a release. The evacuation area covered the corner of Second and College, to the east side of Harvard Avenue and north to Sixth Street, according to Sgt. David DeMetz of the Claremont Police Department.

The Claremont Public Library was among the buildings evacuated. Library Director Amy Crow, who was surveying the scene at the corner of College Avenue and Second Street, said the library was evacuated around 2 p.m.

“We definitely were shooing people out of the children’s area and the adult area,” she said.

A number of Pomona College buildings, including the President’s House, Seaver House, Thatcher Music Building and a number of dormitories were also evacuated, according to an email sent to students.

Rob White, a plumber for Pomona College, noted two crews, a general construction crew and a subcontractor, were working on putting electrical utilities in when the gas main was hit.

—Matthew Bramlett

news@claremont-courier.com