An explosion along a gas pipeline near the Texas-Oklahoma border has sent flames reaching over 500 feet into the air, local officials have said.
Booker Fire Department produced videos of the blaze shooting high into the sky, torching what appear to be nearby electrical lines. It said the incident occurred to the north of Darrouzett, a small town in Texas near the Oklahoma panhandle.
The fire is believed to have broken out late on Tuesday evening. Fire officials first noted teams had been dispatched to the scene just before 11 p.m. ET.
"Crews from several departments are staged at a safe distance until the gas can be turned off," Booker Fire Department said in an update shortly after 11 p.m. Another video, published shortly after 11:30 p.m. shows the fire still burning.
Reuters, citing local fire officials, reported that after the pipeline had been shut down, the affected section would require depressurizing, following which fire crews could move in and extinguish any remaining flames.
Newsweek approached the Booker Fire Department via email for further comment on Wednesday.
Local news station KVII reported that the fire occurred near an intersection of roads approximately a mile from the state border in Beaver County, Oklahoma, between Darrouzett and Logan, Oklahoma.
A spokesperson for Phillips 66, which acquired DCP Midstream, a Denver-based, Fortune 500 natural-gas producer and transporter that owns the pipeline, told Newsweek on Wednesday morning that the incident occurred around 9:15 p.m. local time (10:15 p.m. ET) on Tuesday, approximately 60 miles to the west of Woodward, Oklahoma.
"There have been no injuries associated with the incident and no health threats to neighboring residences," they said. "Phillips 66 has shut in the affected section of pipeline and has made the appropriate regulatory notifications."
Gas pipeline fires are hard to extinguish due to the pressure within the pipe and the volume of flammable gas they are able to emit. The easiest way to put them out is to shut off the affected section of pipeline, starving the opening of fuel.
The Phillips 66 spokesperson said the cause of the rupture has yet to be determined, adding the company's "first priority in responding to this incident is ensuring the safety and health of its workers, emergency responders and the surrounding community."
There have been a number of gas pipeline explosions in recent years across several U.S. states. In July last year, a gas line near Strasburg, western Virginia, exploded along the I-81.
The explosion led to the brief closure of the pipeline and the highway before the fire was contained. Witnesses recounted seeing a towering blaze pushing beyond the treetops, with motorists feeling the heat being emitted as they drove past, The Associated Press reported at the time.
Update 1/31/24, 6:11 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include further information.
Update 1/31/24, 7:34 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a Phillips 66 spokesperson.
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Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. ... Read more
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