Gas line break closes street, clears church

MILFORD – A gas line break shortly before noon shut down a street leading off the Milford Oval on Monday, leading to an evacuation of St. Patrick’s Church and some nearby homes. The street was reopened about forty five minutes later.

A service line was broken by a contractor doing construction work near 46 Amherst Street. This is a residential street leading from the Oval toward the Amherst common. (It is not Route 101A, which bears the name Amherst Street in Nashua.) Milford police and fire officials shut down the road at 11:45 a.m. as a precaution. Initial tests indicated no natural gas in the air.

The cause of the break is still under investigation.