TEMPLE (July 01, 2009)-A Temple-area business was partially evacuated Tuesday night after pick-up truck veered off the roadway and struck a nearby natural gas meter that supplied the business.

The accident happened around 9:20 p.m. in the 2600 block of N. General Bruce Drive in Temple.

Temple Fire and Rescue spokesman Thomas Pechal said a pick-up truck driven by a man in his early twenties veered off of Interstate 35, crossing the service road, before it crashed through a chain link fence

The truck hit a parked vehicle then struck a commercial type natural gas meter that supplies the Carpenter Company, Pechal said.

While the man was not injured, the accident caused a natural gas leak that prompted fire officials to evacuate that portion of the building.

Carpenter personnel were relocated to another section of the building as utility crews worked to shut off the gas leak.

Interstate traffic was not affected by the accident but the service road in front of Carpenter was temporarily closed, Pechal told News 10.

The Carpenter employees did eventually return to work and emergency crews cleared the scene by 11:15 p.m.

There were no reported injuries in connection to the collision or the resulting gas leak.

The accident remains under investigation by the Temple Police Department.