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BGE Restores Gas To Dozens In Laurel; Hundreds Still Without Service

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- BGE has restored gas to dozens of customers in Laurel, but hundreds are still without gas service, and have been for several days.

Hundreds of people in Laurel have spent days without heat or hot water after a water main break flooded gas lines last Thursday.

Crews are now scrambling to restore service.

A lot of people in the neighborhood say they're relying on space heaters, microwaves, and grills.

Loud enough to shake the street, the sound of BGE crews working is a surprisingly welcome noise in an otherwise quiet Laurel neighborhood.

People are hoping it's the sound of soon-to-be working gas lines.

"The biggest thing is no hot water, so trying to bath and so forth," said Laurel resident Dennis Saylor.

Saylor is one of 424 BGE customers left in the cold all weekend. No heat, no hot water, and no gas service to his home for the last four days.

"The stuff we take for granted is unbelievable," he added.

Like so many in the Laurel neighborhood where this happened, he's living off space heaters and borrowed showers as BGE crews scramble to restore service.

"This has been an all hands on deck situation for us," said Linda Foy, with BGE.

Foy says a water main broke Thursday night, pushing water, dirt, and debris into gas pipes.

This means workers now have to clean, repair, or replace lines, and then reconnect hundreds of customers.

"Our crews have been working around the clock since Thursday," Foy added. "We have more than 200 people who are actually on the ground in Laurel."

A painstaking process for both crews and customers, as they wait for patched pipes and working furnaces.

BGE expects service to be mostly restored by Tuesday night.

In the meantime, the city has opened the Robert DiPietro Community Center for anyone who needs access to showers.

RELATED: Hundreds Without Heat, Hot Water After Gas Outage In Pr. George's Co.

Customers who smell natural gas or detect escaping gas are asked to get to a safe location and contact BGE immediately at 1-800-685-0123.

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