Damaged gas line impacts more than 1,400 customers in Duval and St. Johns counties

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — UPDATE 9:10 a.m.- TECO People’s Gas released the following statement on the outage:

“Peoples Gas crews restored service to more than 800 customers as of 10 p.m. yesterday. We resumed work at 8 a.m. to restore the remaining customers without service – just over 700.

Our technicians cannot fully restore service unless an adult is present at the home or business. We will need access to the meter and any natural gas appliances inside. If we come by when no one is home, we will leave instructions explaining next steps – customers will need to call and schedule an appointment, which we will prioritize.”

Neighbors and businesses along the Duval and St. Johns County line are feeling the impacts of a damaged natural gas line. The affected areas include Bent Creek, Julington Creek, Navigators Road, Julington Lakes, and Durbin.

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Action News Jax spoke to one local business that was fortunate enough to see their gas come back on.

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The phones at Serafina’s Pizzeria were ringing non-stop on Tuesday. But owner Vinny Mazzone couldn’t take any orders because a damaged natural gas line forced him to close up shop for a day and a half.

“We start getting an order for chicken parm and spaghetti, I go to put the gas on and there’s no gas -- I said what’s going on?”, Mazzone said.

At its height, TECO People’s Gas said 1,451 residential customers and 84 business customers were impacted throughout the Jacksonville/St. Johns County area.

Watch: Thousands impacted by broken natural gas line

With ovens and fryers not working, Mazzone had to cancel some pre-orders because of the uncertainty during the busiest week of the year.

“We had catering and had to cancel a Christmas party order and how do I tell this lady at 5 o’clock, ma’am we don’t have gas, they shut the gas on us and no one made us aware these orders were days in advance,” Mazzone said. “I look like the bad guy too.”

But nearly 24 hours later, “Magic it’s on,” Mazzone said as service was restored.

TECO Gas workers showed up to fix the issue.

Read: New St. Johns County program to protect seniors from scammers and put money back in their pockets

“Christmas came a little early for us,” he said. “By tomorrow morning we should be able to generate revenue and help the community eat.”

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What damaged the line is being investigated. TECO’s spokesperson said initial service restoration began at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and they’ll be working tonight and tomorrow morning. They said customers do need to be there when their workers are stopping by, saying if they’re not, they’ll leave a door tag with instructions on how to schedule an appointment.

A full statement from TECO Peoples Gas can be read below.

The damaged pipeline is located near 3200 Longleaf Pine Parkway in St. Johns, FL, about 10 to 12 feet deep. The cause of damage is unknown at this time.

1451 residential customers and 84 commercial customers in the following areas have been affected by this outage:

• Bent Creek

• Julington Creek

• Navigators Road

• Julington Lakes

• Durbin

Unlike what customers may be used to with electric service restoration, natural gas service restoration takes a little longer.

1. Our crews will isolate and shut off the natural gas supply to the affected area.

2. Every impacted meter must be turned off and locked as part of our repair and restoration process.

3. Crews make repairs, test the system and repressurize the system to prepare it for gas flow.

4. After pipeline repairs are complete, each meter will be unlocked, and our technicians will need to enter homes and businesses to relight pilot lights as necessary and perform safety checks before service can be turned back on. An adult must be present.

5. If customers are not available, we will leave a door tag with instructions letting them know how to schedule an appointment.

This graphic explains our restoration process (See below)

Peoples Gas crews began turning off and locking meters yesterday evening and resumed this morning. While they worked to turn off meters, repairs were underway. We mobilized additional personnel to assist and we are working as safely and quickly as possible. We were able to begin initial service restoration around 4 p.m. today, and will continue working this evening and tomorrow.

We have distributed several communications to impacted customers. We are also updating our website when we have new information and we are responding to customer calls and social messages.

—  TECO Peoples Gas

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