The damage looked much worse than it was, as the house on 4 Tingley Road in Mendham Township was in the process of being demolished when the construction crew knocked loose the gas meter causing a flurry of activity around 9 a.m. Monday morning.

"I drove past the house and it looked like it had blown up," said Mendham Township Police Lieutenant Vito Abrusci. "But you can see there is a new foundation and they are just actually rebuilding the house."

According to Brookside Engine Company Fire Chief Jay Alderton, there were no injuries but the forklift operator was evaluated and released by Mendham Township EMS and Brookside Fire, Mendham Boro Fire and Morris Township Fire were all on scene.

"We used our gas meters to check surrounding residences for any elevated reading with negative results in all structures," Aldterton said. 

According to officials, during the renovation one of the workers took down a wall where the gas meter was still attached. As it came down, the meter broke free, causing the leak. 

"PSE&G cut off the gas at the street," Alderton said.

By 9:40 a.m. PSE&G had a crew working to replace the damaged register and construction had resumed at the site.