Gas pipe rerouted as flames shut down street

Utility crews in Roslindale worked into the night to reroute a leaking, high-pressure natural gas line that ignited New Year’s Eve and continued spewing flames onto Hyde Park Avenue yesterday.

National Grid said late yesterday it expected to install the bypass line by this morning around the hellish scene that started Sunday when the 10-inch pipe caught fire, burning four workers who were transported to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said utility crews were working all day to dig a new trench for a massive yellow pipe to reroute the high-pressure fuel around the leak.

Hyde Park Avenue is expected to remain closed for as long as it takes the crew to fix the leaky pipe that was belching fire for the past two days.

“You’re dealing with zero degrees and the hard ground,” MacDonald said.

He said the utility didn’t want to simply cut the gas to fix the spot because it feeds fuel to about 8,000 homes.

National Grid spokeswoman Molly Gilson said everyone served by the gas line has service with the exception of 12 people who were evacuated from their homes when their service was shut off as a precaution.

Gilson said the workers injured at the scene were treated for minor burns and released from the hospital.

STAFF PHOTO BY FAITH NINIVAGGI FIERY FIRST DAY OF 2018: A National Grid worker, left, talks on the phone yesterday as flames billow behind him from a leaking natural gas pipe on Hyde Park Avenue in Roslindale. Crews worked into the night to reroute the leak, which injured four...