Update: Shiprock Gas Leak Repaired. Evacuations Canceled

San Juan County Fire Department will be checking each home for gas levels before residents are allowed to stay. Navajo Tribal Utility Authority will be checking gas regulators and appliances before lighting them. After the gas leak was stopped, air monitoring indicated that it was safe for residents to return. Highway 491 has reopened.

From San Juan County:

Update:

More than 100 residents are being allowed back into their homes in Shiprock, after they were evacuated for a gas leak in the area.
San Juan County Fire Department will be checking each home for gas levels before residents are allowed to stay. Navajo Tribal Utility Authority will be checking gas regulators and appliances before lighting them.
San Juan County Fire Department and Farmington Fire Department assisted Navajo Fire with evacuations, while the Farmington Fire Department Haz Mat team monitored for signs of gas in the air. After the gas leak was stopped, air monitoring indicated that it was safe for residents to return.
Highway 491 has reopened.
Air monitoring will continue in the area.

Original notice;

San Juan County Fire Department is assisting in the evacuation of a subdivision in Shiprock, as well as standing by on an active gas leak.
A large gas line leak in Shiprock has forced the evacuation of 47 homes as well as Mesa Elementary School. Children have been evacuated to Shiprock High School and may be picked up by parents at Chieftain Pit. Residents are being sent to the Shiprock Boys and Girls Club.
There are no injuries reported at this time.
The leak is east of Highway 491, at mile marker 91.5. There is still natural gas leaking at this time.
Highway 491 in the area is closed.
Farmington Fire Department HazMat team has set up air monitoring in the area.
This is an evolving situation, and there will be more information released as it becomes available.

More from Local News

  • Lauren Laws Named Interim Superintendent for Aztec Schools

    For 15 years, Lauren Laws has dedicated her career to Aztec Schools, beginning as a Special Education teacher in 2008. In 2010 she transitioned to General Education, where she spent six years in the classroom working with 4th and 5th graders at Park Avenue Elementary while completing work on her Master's Degree. During her tenure at Park Avenue Elementary, she also served a Lead Teacher, Assistant Principal, and Principal. Lauren has spent the past three years serving as the Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning for the district.

  • Durango Picks Brice Current to be New Police Chief

    Brice Current was a former narcotics agent with the San Juan County Sheriff's Office in Aztec, NM. He was hired as Durango's Deputy Police Chief in 2019.

  • Waterflow Fire Kills 1

     Crews arrived to find a camp trailer on fire and one occupant still inside. Another occupant was transported to the hospital with minor injuries and has since been released. Despite a quick response from fire crews, one occupant was found dead in the trailer after the fire was extinguished.  The name of the deceased is not yet released. 

  • Farmington Schools Hires first Armed Campus Safety Monitor

     The FMS Board of Education authorized school security personnel to carry firearms on school premises during their January 9, 2024, meeting. The move paved the way for the hiring of Armed Campus Safety Monitors (ACSMs), former certified law enforcement officers tasked with providing an additional layer of protection for students and staff during emergencies.

  • City Breaks Ground on Pinon Hills Extension

    Farmington Officials gathered with representatives from the NM Department of Transportation and San Juan County to break ground on the long-anticipated Pinon Hills Boulevard Extension Project. San Juan County announced that design work on their section of the project is 90% completed.

  • Back to Bloomfield: Summers Selected as New Superintendent

    Kevin Summers will be returning to the Bloomfield School District as Superintendent, after the retirement of Dr. Kim Mizell at the end of the current school year. Summers' hire makes an opening in the Superintendent's Office in Aztec where he has served for the past three years.

On KSJE Now:

Today's Weather

  • Farmington, NM

    Sunny

    High: 82°F | Low: 45°F

  • Durango, CO

    Sunny

    High: 75°F | Low: 39°F

  • Shiprock, NM

    Sunny

    High: 86°F | Low: 46°F

  • Cortez, CO

    Sunny

    High: 81°F | Low: 41°F

  • Santa Fe, NM

    Sunny intervals

    High: 73°F | Low: 43°F