Anchorage firefighters say a gas leak in Potter Marsh area briefly closed the Seward Highway Thursday afternoon, but the road was reopened without further incident.
According to Anchorage Fire Department Chief Denis LeBlanc, dispatchers received a report of the gas -- near Potter Valley Road's intersection with the Seward -- shortly after 1 p.m.
Although the highway and nearby Alaska Railroad tracks were closed because gas was "venting straight up into high winds," LeBlanc said, it quickly dissipated once crews from natural gas utility Enstar shut down the line.
At that point, LeBlanc said the highway and tracks were reopened "without any real incident."
Enstar spokeswoman Lindsay Hobson said that crews from the utility had been performing maintenance in the area, and some of the gas inadvertently was released. She didn't have any immediate word on the incident's cause Thursday afternoon.
"It's no longer blowing gas," Hobson said. "The area's safe -- it's a controlled situation."