While working to install a new natural gas pipeline in the downtown area, a Montana-Dakota Utilities contractor mistakenly hit one of the current gas lines Thursday afternoon.

The low-pressure 6-inch line was struck around 4:40 p.m. on First Street near the Lamplighter Inn while the contractor was boring. It took MDU crews until around 1:20 a.m. Saturday to shut off the leaking natural gas line.

“We had personnel on site at the time and other crews responded quickly, but due to the location of the damage and multiple natural gas mains in the area, it was difficult to get to the damage,” said Mark Hanson, a spokesman for MDU. “Local crews started on repairs but needed a specialized piece of equipment, which was located in Billings, [Montana], to stop off large diameter pipe.”

Authorities shut down First Street between Bent and Clark streets while crews were working on the issue. Powell police, Powell Valley Healthcare ambulance services and the Powell Volunteer Fire Department all responded to the scene.

After the gas was shut off, crews continued to monitor and clean up the area throughout the rest of the night, Hanson said. A total of 15 customers lost gas service for a “short” period of time, he said.

No businesses or residences were evacuated during the incident, though some vehicles were moved from the immediate area surrounding the leaking line. As a precaution, motorcyclists who’d been dining at nearby Millstone Pizza and Brewing Co. were asked to push their vehicles a short distance away before starting them up.

Thursday’s accident followed a Wednesday morning incident in which the contractor hit and punctured an abandoned underground gas tank about a block to the north. The boring crew unexpectedly encountered the tank in the alley by the Darrah Law Office on Second Street, also between Bent and Clark streets; decades ago, the area had housed a gas station.

The Powell fire department was summoned to the scene around 11:35 a.m. Ultimately, Hanson said another entity brought in a vac truck “to remove about 1,050 gallons of substance that leaked from the tank.”

“The area has been secured and there is no immediate risk for further spillage from the tank,” he said Monday.

MDU has been working this summer to replace pipelines in alleyways both east and west of Absaroka Street, where the city is widening the route. Hanson has said the company hopes to finish its work in late October or early November.