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Terence Carey, a deputy county fire chief, said at a press conference in the morning that the crews had been called back about an hour after their release.
"What we found was an active fire in a safe," said Carey.
"It put this gas line in jeopardy," said Hill. "If this line had broken or exploded, there would have been considerable damage."
County officials have ordered evacuations within an 800-meter radius of the facility, covering approximately 1,400 homes in Pittsburg and Bay Point.
Evacuation centers have been set up at the Calvary Temple Church in Concord and at the BART Pittsburg / Bay Point Station parking lot.
At approximately 6:20 pm, BART announced that the shelter near his station would be transferred to Los Medanos College.
Matt and Brandy Seville and their two children aged 3 and 1 in Pittsburgh had to leave after being informed by a law enforcement officer.
"He told me that it was time to evacuate," said Brandy Sevilla outside of Medanos' shelter.
The Sevilla family were among those who had to move from the BART station to the college.
Chevron's teams worked to reduce the pressure inside the line.
Carey Wages, a headlamp coordinator for Chevron, said the company thought that a smaller line that monitors pressure on the larger pipeline, called the transmission line, could be broken.
"What we are assuming is that it is the transmission line that has suffered the damage that has arisen, solely according to the volumes and trends observed on the pipeline," Wages said.
The teams plan to "purge" the pipeline with inert gas to allow the authorities to conduct an investigation and allow residents to return home.
Chevron spokeswoman Braden Reddall said the company had been informed of the fire around 8 pm Wednesday.
"The Chevron Pipeline Company (CPL) was informed of a fire caused by the fall of a power line that set off a fire near our valve fitting on the Northern gas line near Pittsburg, "said Reddall in a statement.
CPL immediately cut the line and sent a field team to investigate. CPL has started its emergency response procedures and is working with the California Fire Marshal's Office and local firefighters to evacuate the area as a precautionary measure, Reddall said.
Hill said that it was not clear if a power line was causing fire or if it was falling during the fire.
JD Guidi, a spokesman for PG & E, said the utility had been informed of a grass fire failure and a failure of equipment in the avenues Pullman and Crivello around 18:40. Wednesday.
This report included that PG & E cables were in the area, said Guidi.
The state fire commissioner's office, part of Cal Fire, investigates accidents involving pipelines of dangerous liquids within the state. But since the incident involves a gas pipeline, it is not the responsibility of the state's fire marshal, according to Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean.
Nevertheless, the agency has dispatched a pipeline safety engineer on site "as a precaution because there is a liquid pipeline nearby," McLean said in an email. This engineer left Thursday morning and the office no longer provides any involvement.
A spokesperson for the California Public Utilities Commission has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Inspectors from the Air Quality Management District of the Bay Area have been on hand since Thursday morning to assess the situation, according to agency spokeswoman Kristine Roselius.
The incident affects rail traffic on the railroads owned by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway.
Classes were canceled at Willow Cove Elementary School in Pittsburgh.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
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