Calm follows WITH LUGGAGE in tow and keys ready, Alan Duvall was waiting to check out of the Waikiki Terrace Hotel when he was told it would be a little while before he would be on his way.
Waikiki gas leak
But motorists were not as lucky
as they scrambled to find
roads into WaikikiBy B.J. Reyes
breyes@starbulletin.com"They said there was a gas leak and they needed to evacuate," said Duvall, 48, from St. Louis, who was in town on business. "They started calling rooms and that was pretty much it. It was very calm."
Duvall was among those inconvenienced yesterday after a construction crew working on a sewer line struck an 8-inch gas line near the intersection of Kalakaua and Kuhio avenues.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said Delta Construction Corp., a private contractor, was working on a sewer line for the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Kalia Tower when it struck the gas line.
Police shut off roads into Waikiki while fire and Gas Co. crews worked to fix the broken line.
The incident was reported around 8:45 a.m. Traffic began flowing again at about 11 a.m., after crews stopped the leak with a temporary patch, Gas Co. spokesman Steve Golden said.
Although the line is safe, the Gas Co. will work with the Honolulu Fire Department to determine a time when crews can excavate the area and replace the ruptured pipe, Golden said.
No timetable was immediately set.
A front desk clerk at the Waikiki Terrace said the odor of natural gas became detectable around 9 a.m.About 500 people were evacuated from the area at about 9:45 a.m. as a precaution, said Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo. He said there were no immediate reports of anyone becoming ill from the gas.
The evacuees included about 230 guests and staff at the Waikiki Terrace, general manager Jernell Mendonca said.
"We had everybody out and accounted for, both guests and employees, I'd say within 15 minutes," she said. "Of course, the fact that it wasn't immediately life-threatening -- like a fire -- you didn't have people screaming and running out of the building."
Also evacuated were the Fort DeRussy office building, an ARCO gas station, an ABC store and Keo's in Waikiki restaurant.
Meanwhile, traffic crawled along Ala Moana and Kapiolani boulevards as motorists searched for any entry into Waikiki.
Even the driveway in back of the shopping center at 1901 Kapiolani Blvd. was backed up as drivers attempted unsuccessfully to try to get into Waikiki through McCully Street, only to find the way blocked by a police motorcycle.
Matt Clinger, a driver for the Domino's Pizza at the shopping center, worried that he would not be able to make his deliveries if he could not get into Waikiki.
"Most of our runs are in the Waikiki area to all the hotels," he said. "It really ticks me off. I need the money. Can't they fix it some other way?"
But when Domino's opened at 11 a.m., so did the entries into Waikiki, alleviating Clinger's concerns.
However, the roads did not open up soon enough for Natasha Hendrickson and her Crazy Shirts co-worker. The two were scheduled to start work at 11 a.m. but instead were stuck in the Kapiolani traffic for about 30 minutes.
Hendrickson said her manager was understanding.
"It's OK," she said. "We can't do anything about it."
Star-Bulletin reporters Nelson Daranciang, Gordon Y.K. Pang
and Treena Shapiro contributed to this report.
A ruptured gas line that caused the closure of Kalakaua and Kuhio avenues near Fort DeRussey was repaired at about 10:30 last night. Ruptured Waikiki gas line repaired
Star-Bulletin staff
Roads into Waikiki were shut off while the 8-inch line was repaired, snarling traffic on Kalakaua Avenue, Kapiolani, Ala Moana and Atkinson boulevards and McCully Street.
The incident was reported around 8:45 a.m. Traffic began flowing again at about 11 a.m., after crews stopped the leak with a temporary patch, Gas Co. spokesman Steve Golden said.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said Delta Construction Corp. was working on a sewer line for Hilton Hawaiian Village's Kalia Tower when it struck the gas line.
About 500 people were evacuated from the area as a precaution, said Fire Department Capt. Richard Soo. He said there were no immediate reports of illness from the gas.