A natural gas pipeline ruptured and caught fire at Piedmont and Waterloo roads Wednesday night, causing a loud boom that shook houses in the area, as flames seen for miles lighted up the sky.
Piedmont Fire Chief Andy Logan said crews immediately worked to shut off the high-pressure natural gas. Secondary fires were caused by the flames, he said.
Smoke from the fire lingered in the area as far south as Northwest Expressway and north into Kingfisher County Thursday morning.
Assistant Fire Chief Brien Stewart said at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday a 12-inch pipeline that went under Waterloo Road ruptured.
“Something happened for it to possibly burst and they say what happens is when it burst an ignition from some other source causes the explosion. So that is what they believe happened. It is still under investigation and they are going to look into exactly what they think happened. But a pipeline running underneath Waterloo burst and it caused a pretty big fire,” Stewart said.
The pipeline company released the following statement Thursday afternoon.
“At approximately 8:30 p.m. CT on September 16, 2020, 3 miles north of Piedmont, OK in Kingfisher County, DCP experienced a natural gas pipeline release on one of its pipelines due to unknown causes. Safety is our number one priority. At this time there are no known injuries with our community members or personnel and the release was immediately isolated. The release resulted in a brief pipeline fire that has been extinguished. Residual smoke is expected Thursday, Sept. 17th from near-by hay bales impacted by the fire. They are being monitored and do not pose harm to immediate surroundings. We are continuing to work with local emergency response to address the event, and we are in the process of assessing the impacts of the event and conducting an investigation
Stewart said, “As far as we can tell there are no injuries to residents in the area “We have checked with all the nearby houses. There is no livestock or cattle that we have been able to find that have been injured. There hasn’t been any loss of life that we can find.”
The explosion was felt as a 3.0 magnitude earthquake by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Police Chief Scott Singer said the roadway was expected to reopen to traffic in all directions at Waterloo and Piedmont roads by the end of the day Friday.
“Right now they are in the process of, first of all, restoring power. Second of all, repairing the defect in the pipe when the pipe ruptured last night. So at the point that is the two major goals, obviously we are trying to get the pipeline repaired so they can cover that at least temporarily with a surface that is sufficient for people to travel on,” Singer said Thursday afternoon.
Piedmont City Manager Jason Orr released an update Thursday.
“As you can imagine, it’s been a long day for everyone. OG&E has finished installing their damaged power poles and Cimarron should be close to being finished with theirs. DCP has hired a contractor to fix Waterloo Road back to its previous condition and the good news is the City of Piedmont will not be responsible for a cent of the associated costs. We anticipate the road will be back open for travel before noon tomorrow if all goes well. We are all very lucky that the location of this pipeline was in a sparsely-populated area and we had no fatalities,” Orr said.
“I have to say our City employees really stepped up to the plate in response to the emergency: our Police, Fire, and Public Works Departments went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure Piedmont citizens remained safe. I am proud of all the first responders and other employees who left their family at home to show up last night, especially Assistant Fire Chief Heinrich, Deputy Police Chief Travis Salkil, and Director of Public Works Doug Baustert who all provided stellar leadership on scene. These are the folks who make this community such a great place to live and work,” Orr said.
Waterloo Road was closed due to roadway damage. According to a local resident, the pipeline went under Waterloo Road, and parts of the roadway were gone.
Police Chief Scott Singer said there were no known injuries.
“The roadway and intersection of Piedmont and Waterloo was destroyed and is impassable. The fire is out with a few small fires being attended to. Some homes have lost power, but the power company is en route,” Singer said about 10:45 p.m.
A woman who lives about a quarter of a mile from the pipeline, Hanna Nettles, said the explosion was about 8:40 p.m. She lives on Tuscany Way.
“There was a massive explosion, right here at the corner of Piedmont and Waterloo. It shook my house,” Nettles said. “I might have video of it on my doorbell camera.”
Nettles said her husband works for an oil and gas company and he said it wasn’t a tank battery, it was a gas line. It looks like they got it isolated at least and it has died down,” Nettles said about 9:45 p.m.
Waterloo Road will be closed between Mustang and Reading roads, Singer said.
Piedmont’s City Manager Jason Orr said Thursday the pipeline owner, DCP Midstream, may be liable for all damage to the road and repair work.
The eastbound traffic on Waterloo Road will reopen about 3 p.m. Thursday, and westbound traffic will open within 48 hours as crews repair the ruptured line, Police Chief Singer said.
Traffic going north and south on Piedmont Road will also reopen within 48 hours.
Follow The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette and piedmontnewsonline.com for updates.
Jeremy Pyle contributed to the report.
