A backhoe operator severed a natural gas line that triggered a lockdown, then the cancellation of classes at Century High School in Santa Ana Wednesday.
The gas-line break occurred shortly before 10 a.m., prompting school officials to hold all 2,200 students in classrooms. About noon, administrators decided to cancel classes for the rest of the day.
According to fire officials and the Southern California Gas Co., a 2- inch natural gas line was severed near the campus in the 1400 block of Grand Avenue.
A Southern California Gas Co. crew stopped the flow of gas just after noon, according to the utility's Denise King.
Students said they were taking standardized tests required by the state when the accident happened.
Students who could walk home were sent on their way for the day, but other students who needed rides were put on a bus and taken to Villa Fundamental Intermediate School, about a block away at 1441 E. Chestnut Ave., to wait for parents or guardians to pick them up.
