Smith Road Closed; Crews Repair Damaged Pipeline Near Bambrick Park

Smith Road will remain closed through the early part of this week as crews work to fix a damaged natural gas pipeline, Lemont officials said.

As of 3 p.m. Monday, Smith Road remained closed between 127th and 135th Streets as workers continued repairing a pipeline near , 1330 Smith Road, on Aug. 8.

The downed line was a possible ignition source for a leaking pipeline, causing a small fire on the side of the road, according to Chief Carl Churulo of the .

Firefighters stood by for six hours, keeping the wooden ComEd pole wet to prevent the fire from spreading, Churlo said.

Tom Ballard, director of the Lemont Emergency Management Agency, said Smith Road has been closed from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. since late last week while workers replace the piece of pipeline damaged from the incident.

"You can still get to Bambrick and everything but the road needs to be closed to protect the workers during the day," Ballard said.

Repairs are expected to be completed late Tuesday or early Wednesday, he said.