Call 811 Before Digging

Conner Chapmon/Piedmont Natural Gas

Their weekend yard project turned into an emergency, and it could have been avoided with a five-minute phone call.

During a hot summer afternoon, the homeowner was replacing their aged fence. They started up a gas-powered auger to drill post holes and hit a natural gas line. The result? Pressurized natural gas pouring out of the damaged line, creating a situation that required evacuations and emergency response from firefighters and Piedmont Natural Gas crews.  

When everything was safe, I asked the homeowner if they called 811 before digging. They admitted that they didn’t.

As a crew member at Piedmont Natural Gas, I have responded to numerous emergency calls, many of which could have been prevented. The primary cause of these incidents is the failure to contact 811. Every year, Piedmont sees thousands of emergencies stemming from people striking natural gas pipelines during home improvement projects and commercial excavation work. Already in 2025, Piedmont has reported damage to underground natural gas lines more than 1,100 times. 

It is important our customers know that many of these incidents are avoidable with a free call to 811 at least three days before digging begins. When you pick up the phone and dial 811, local utilities send a crew to mark underground lines in the area with above-ground stakes, flags or paint, which indicates restricted areas, before putting a shovel in the ground.

My advice is simple: Don’t guess. Call. Whether you’re planting a tree, building a fence or laying a new driveway, that quick phone call can be a difference between a smooth project and a community emergency. Calling 811 isn’t a formality – it’s the law and critical for public safety. No matter the size of the project, no dig is too small for 811.