Home Depot's playground equipment.

A dozen workers evacuated a Home Depot store after a forklift operator broke a natural gas line while working.

The San Diego Union-Tribune said the employee at the Mission Avenue store in Oceanside struck an overhead heating appliance when he was stacking a pallet on top of a tall storage rack.

The force of the impact broke the gas line leading to the heater.

Fire fighters shut off the main gas valve to the building before cutting holes in the ceiling to help the gas escape.

The workers were allowed to return after the building was aired out for an hour.

Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer and the US' second largest retailer.