Posted: 2/12/2009 5:19:35 AM EDT
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There was a pipeline explosion yesterday at a company called DCP Midstream in Carthage, TX.
Here is the press release: East Texas Incident Bulletin Update: 2/11/09, 1:30 p.m. MST Today, at approximately 10:15 a.m. CST, an explosion and fire occurred near our DCP Midstream East Texas gas processing complex. We immediately shut down our plant facilities, and have blocked in all pipelines feeding our plant. We immediately evacuated employees, and all employees are accounted for with no injuries. We are working with emergency first responders to control the situation. The adjacent Highway 79 has been blocked, and the fire is under control and diminishing. We are not aware of the cause, or whether the explosion occurred on a DCP Midstream owned facility or a third-party owned facility. DCP Midstream is dispatching an investigation team and it may take several days to identify the cause and the extent of damages to our operations. The East Texas facility is operated by DCP Midstream, and owned 75 percent by DCP Midstream and 25 percent by DCP Midstream Partners (NYSE: DPM). Visit this Web site for regular updates. And here are the pics from one of my field guys that lives in the area... 
Crazy shit... - AG |
There are 2 DCP Midstream plants in Carthage. I do business with one of them. Not the one that blew. I guess I still have my tanks there. 
Thank God no one was hurt, seriously. A nearby home was destoyed by one of the grass fire started by the "blowout". That sucks though. |
| Reminds me of a similar event in central NJ about 18 years ago. Construction equipment hit a 36" natural gas pipeline. The resulting expliosion and fire vaporized an apartment building and several cars. The pillar of fire could be seen for 20 miles––it was an awesome sight. As I recall, only one person died in the event, someone being evacuated had a heart attack. MIracles do occur. |
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Quoted:
Damn, amazing no one was hurt. So, fire guys, is there any point in even tackling something like that? Or do you just evac the area and try to contain it where it is 'till it burns out? That depends on what is burning, where it is burning, etc. If the fuel source can be shut off, you simply shut it off and cool everything down really good. I was once on a fire at a gas well that was hit by a pickup truck. The shutoff valve was at the base of the well and still intact. We used two hoselines to cool the well and push the fire back and one really brave guy went up and shut it off (when I learned this tactic I was told by the instructor 'You will NEVER do this!' LOL) If the fuel source cannot be controlled, you simply protect exposures (the area around the fire) as well as you can and let the fire burn out. This particular fire is not anywhere with a good water supply, so firefighting was probably just protecting exposures. I don't know exactly WHAT is burning though. |