st. paul

It started out routine enough, when a homeowner in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood hired a worker to auger out her sewer line.

A few hours later the house was burned to a total loss, dozens of nearby houses had been evacuated because of a gas leak, and city Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard was reflecting on how much worse it could have been.

"This was very dangerous and a lot of other things could have happened," Zaccard said of the fire at 2014 St., which began when natural gas seeped into the basement of the rambler.

Firefighters who responded to the fire about midmorning found the homeowner and her two dogs safe, Zaccard said, but raced from the house when they discovered it was filling with natural gas.

Extinguishing the fire right away, he said, could have resulted in a bigger gas buildup and a massive explosion.

The sewer worker suffered burns on his face and was taken to Regions Hospital but released Monday afternoon, the chief said. The homeowner escaped safely. He said he couldn't identify either person.

Zaccard said the homeowner hired the worker to auger the sewer line and he somehow ruptured a natural gas line. The gas was drawn through the sewer line into the house where it found an ignition source -- possibly a pilot light -- in the basement, he said.

"Once it found an ignition source, it had a blowtorch effect," Zaccard said. "It was very critical here. We had to firefight, we have to evacuate and then we had to ventilate. We had to do all of those things at once."

Danger quickly spread throughout the neighborhood because the gas traveled through sewer systems to other houses, leading to evacuations. Utility workers shut off gas to 15 houses and electricity to 60, said Xcel Energy spokeswoman Patti Nystuen.

Service was restored Monday afternoon after workers conducted house-to-house inspections, she said.

Zaccard said the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety is investigating.

Homeowners never should underestimate the potential dangers of natural gas, Zaccard said.

"We use it every day, and we're comfortable with it, but [when] out of control, it's deadly," he said.

Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report. Kevin Giles • 612-673-4432