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1 worker dead in Texas pipeline blast
GRANBURY, Texas, (UPI) -- A huge explosion and fire caused by a ruptured gas line Monday in Johnson County, Texas, left one worker dead and seven others injured, officials said.
The blast was reported at about 2:45 and the fire, featuring flames estimated to reach 600 feet above the ground, went out a little more than 90 minute later. Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford said emergency workers located the body of a man about 200 yards from blast site at about 7:45 p.m., the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Workers with C&H Power Line Construction Services of Dewey, Okla., were boring a hole for installation of a utility pole when a 36-inch natural gas transmission line was ruptured by a 120,000-pound auger, authorities said. However, C&H Chief Operating Officer Fred Haag said it wasn't clear the company's crew struck the transmission line, the Star-Telegram reported.
The pipeline, which crosses Texas carrying high-pressure natural gas, belongs to Enterprise Products Partners.
Residents of Pecan Plantation, a gated community, said windows rattled and homes shook from the blast.
"The noise was unbelievable, just horrendous," said Ginger Zemanek.
"My whole building was shaking," Carolyn Black, who lives about 5 miles away, told The Dallas Morning News. "It sounded like someone landing a big Jumbo 747 in the back yard."
The Texas Railroad Commission will lead the investigation into the explosion with Occupational Health and Safety Administration officials also examining the accident, the Morning News reported.
GRANBURY, Texas, (UPI) -- A huge explosion and fire caused by a ruptured gas line Monday in Johnson County, Texas, left one worker dead and seven others injured, officials said.
The blast was reported at about 2:45 and the fire, featuring flames estimated to reach 600 feet above the ground, went out a little more than 90 minute later. Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford said emergency workers located the body of a man about 200 yards from blast site at about 7:45 p.m., the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Workers with C&H Power Line Construction Services of Dewey, Okla., were boring a hole for installation of a utility pole when a 36-inch natural gas transmission line was ruptured by a 120,000-pound auger, authorities said. However, C&H Chief Operating Officer Fred Haag said it wasn't clear the company's crew struck the transmission line, the Star-Telegram reported.
The pipeline, which crosses Texas carrying high-pressure natural gas, belongs to Enterprise Products Partners.
Residents of Pecan Plantation, a gated community, said windows rattled and homes shook from the blast.
"The noise was unbelievable, just horrendous," said Ginger Zemanek.
"My whole building was shaking," Carolyn Black, who lives about 5 miles away, told The Dallas Morning News. "It sounded like someone landing a big Jumbo 747 in the back yard."
The Texas Railroad Commission will lead the investigation into the explosion with Occupational Health and Safety Administration officials also examining the accident, the Morning News reported.