House evacuated after gas line ruptured

Houses in Warkworth, north of Auckland, were evacuated today after the main gas line into the town was ruptured by contractors using a digger.

The Fire Service was alerted at 11.15am and spokesman Jaron Phillips said the incident was in the Woodcocks Rd area.

The number of houses affected was not yet confirmed, but he said there had been "quite a large number of calls" from people who reported the smell of gas.

Firefighters were also dealing with another gas-related incident in Kumeu, west of Auckland, where an acetylene cylinder was on fire at a shipbuilding firm.

About 30 firefighters were at Yachtspar New Zealand, where the fire was near three other cylinders, two containing oxygen and the other LPG.

Those cylinders were being cooled with water and people within a 100m radius of the premises had been told to leave the area.

- NZPA