Police: Several homes evacuated in Bridgewater due to gas leak

Several homes in Bridgewater were evacuated Tuesday afternoon due to a gas leak.

Authorities say eight or nine homes on Oxford Road were evacuated – with about five of those homes being occupied at the time. Residents were asked to leave temporarily.

Bridgewater police say the leak happened around 1:30 p.m. The Martinsville fire chief says a utility company that was working in the area accidentally caused the leak.

“There was a contractor on scene digging for New Jersey American Water and hit a gas line,” said Chief Kyle Fernandes. “PSE&G was notified, which notified us. We came out, we realized there was a hazard. We evacuated approximately five houses until PSE&G was able to come out and mitigate the leak. They just mitigated it.”

Officials say it will take a few hours to complete the repairs. At least one family was able to return to their home for now.