Gas leak empties Yuba City Walmart

A gas leak Friday outside the Yuba City Walmart forced more than 100 people to scramble out of the store for safety.

No one was hurt.

Store maintenance worker Michael Brown was working in the back of the store around 3 p.m. and said he heard the break occur.

"It was spewing like one of Saddam Hussein's oil tankers," Brown said. "You could hear it. It was a big old gas leak."

Dozens of people, mostly store employees like Brown, could be seen standing outside in the 1100 block of Harter Road.

Walmart management refused to comment.

Officials from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said the natural gas at the store was shut off around 3:30 p.m. to give crews time to repair the damage.

PG&E spokeswoman Brittany McKannay said a construction crew working on Walmart's expansion broke a meter on the north side of the store, sending natural gas into the air.

"Our crews were on scene quickly and the damage was repaired," McKannay said.

That was good news for customers like Marysville's Faye Carterby, who was half way through the checkout stand when she was ordered out of the building.

"Half my food is still in there, and I can't leave because I already gave them my money," Carterby said. "Otherwise I'd have already left."

Carterby said she was frustrated and felt stuck, but was glad nobody was hurt.

Walmart reopened around 4:15 p.m., authorities said.

A damage estimate was not available.