Affinia Hotel guests are back in the building after a gas main rupture prompted their evacuation Thursday morning.
A high-pressure line was ruptured by a construction crew working in front of the hotel at 166 E. Superior St., Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff said. The crew punctured a 2-inch, high-pressure gas service line just before 10 a.m.
Fire officials helped evacuate about 500 people out the back of the hotel to Chicago Avenue, and Peoples Gas shut off service. The incident was "struck out and secured" just after 11 a.m., a Peoples Gas spokesperson said.
Fire crews went into the hotel with detectors looking for pockets of gas that may have remained, Hoff said. They were waiting until the levels were at zero before letting people back into the hotel.
By 1 p.m., people were back in the hotel. Surrounding streets were reopened after many closed during the evacuation.
