A gas-line break in downtown Aspen on Wednesday triggered a 45-minute evacuation of the Mountain Plaza building and closed a stretch of sidewalk, a community safety officer said.

A driver trying to negotiate a parking spot behind the Kemo Sabe store struck a gas meter just after noon.

Charlie Martin, an Aspen community safety officer, said the smell of natural gas was prevalent in the vicinity until a SourceGas employee was able to shut it off. He said it was a 1-inch gas line.

The evacuation was voluntary, Martin said.

The sidewalk between Kemo Sabe and the Hyman Avenue mall was closed for about 45 minutes.

The driver was not ticketed.