16 evacuated from Balboa Island after natural gas line cut

A private construction crew sheared a gas line behind a home on Balboa Island on Tuesday, forcing firefighters to evacuate more than a dozen residents in the area, officials said.

About 3:17 p.m., a crew doing construction on a home in the 800 block of South Bay Front was cutting concrete when they also cut a natural gas line, said Newport Beach Fire Department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz.

Firefighters asked 16 residents in the 100 block of Sapphire Avenue to leave the area until it was under control, she said.

Firefighters were still at the scene as of 5 p.m., waiting for workers from the gas company to close the line. No injuries were reported.

—Joseph Serna