If you're doing any home improvement to your property this year, Orange & Rockland Utilities says call 811 first to mark utility lines before you dig and possibly damage them.

The company says many people don't call first, so it deals with several line damages every month.

Back in March, a contractor ruptured a gas line in Suffern and forced mass evacuations of apartment buildings.

The company says a team will come mark utility lines free of charge. "You can call anywhere between two and 10 days before your digging project, and the locators will be here within two days to mark out any utilities that company owns," says Daniel Fitzpatrick, damage prevention planner for Orange & Rockland Utilities.

If a utility line is damaged, the person responsible foots the bill for the fix and could be slapped with fines costing as high as $10,000.