State officials have found a new pocket of gas underneath a street in the neighborhood in Firestone where a home fatally exploded last month, and they believe the gas came from a branch of the same pipeline that has been blamed for the deadly explosion.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. workers on Thursday were venting the gas that was found underneath Oak Meadows Boulevard. State officials said homeowners in the area were not in danger.

The pocket of gas is several hundred feet away from any homes, but the gas concentrations are higher than those found in the soil near the home that exploded, according to maps provided by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

COGCC spokesman Todd Hartman said the initial investigation indicates a flowline that terminated south of the home that exploded on April 17 branched off a flowline headed west toward Oak Meadows Boulevard. The western end, he said, may have been cut at when a sewer line was installed at Oak Meadows Boulevard. However, no final determination has yet been made, he said.

“During precautionary soil sampling, a subsurface area was identified near Oak Meadows Boulevard where methane was detected, and we have taken steps to safely disperse the gas,” Anadarko spokesman John Christiansen said. “The above-ground concentrations are below levels of concern, testing has confirmed the area is isolated near the road, and the levels in the soil are dissipating as a result of the remediation activities.”

The COGCC, which regulates the oil and gas industry in the state, discussed the discovery of the new area of contamination in a meeting with residents in the Oak Meadows neighborhood Wednesday night. Anadarko officials also met with residents during the meeting to discuss the company’s mitigation efforts.

Anadarko is shutting down three wells it owns in the area. It also is permanently disconnecting 1-inch diameter return lines from all vertical wells in Colorado — the same type of pipe that carried odorless gas that fueled the Firestone house explosion. The company is providing homeowners in the area funding for natural gas detection devices.

“With wells being decommissioned and being pulled out in the near future, and basically torn down, and us getting methane sensors, I would hope people’s minds are a little at ease,” said Jesse Bezdek, president of the Oak Meadows Home Owners Association. “I don’t want to speak for everybody, but I think that’s the way the majority feels.”

The April 17 home explosion killed Mark Martinez and Mark Martinez and Joey Irwin, who were replacing the home’s hot water heater. Mark’s wife, Erin Martinez, was traumatically burned. Investigators have said an abandoned return flowline connected to a well owned by Anadarko was cut. Gas seeped from the cut pipeline and entered the home through a sump pump and french drains. Investigators have said that branch of the pipeline should have been disconnected.

Investigators have said the supposedly abandoned line linked to the explosion should not have been connected to the well and should have been capped.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the home explosion.