Broken Gas Line Sparks Large Fire

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- A broken gas line sparked a large fire that destroyed a facility that belongs to a highway construction contractor Saturday morning.

The blaze that gutted Shelly and Sands Inc. stemmed from a gas leak at Martin Marietta Aggregates, which is nearby, fire officials said.

Workers were drilling at Martin Marietta on River Road north of 146th Street just after 8 a.m. when the gas line was severed, a Martin Marietta employee told the Noblesville Fire Department.

Authorities said that there were no utility markings in the area in which the workers were drilling.

The leak fueled a fire in a storage building that also spread to several cars. Firefighters worked for about two hours to get control of the blaze.

No one was injured, but an estimated $1 million in damage was done to the storage building, authorities said.