JUNCTION CITY, Ky. (AP) — A regional gas pipeline ruptured early Thursday in Kentucky, causing a massive explosion that killed one person, hospitalized five others, destroyed railroad tracks and forced the evacuation of a nearby mobile home park, authorities said.
Some structures were completely consumed by the blaze, and five to seven people were unaccounted for when firefighters extinguished the flames hours later, Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Don Gilliam said.
"The part of the area that has been compromised, there's just nothing left," Gilliam said when asked whether residents might return to their trailer homes. "The residences that are still standing or damaged will be accessible. There doesn't really look like there's any in-between back there. They're either destroyed or they're still standing."
The 30-inch (76-centimeter) wide pipeline moves natural gas under such high pressure that the flames reached about 300 feet in the air and could be seen throughout the county, he said.
The explosion around 1 a.m. was so huge that it showed up on radar, according to a tweet from WKYT-TV meteorologist Chris Bailey. It took hours for firefighters to douse the flames, with trucks repeatedly refilling their tanks and returning to the scene.
Emergency managers said the rupture involved the Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline, which is owned and operated by Enbridge. The pipeline stretches more than 9,000 miles, from the Mexican border in Texas to New York City. A statement from the company based in Calgary, Canada, said "Enbridge is aware of and is responding to a rupture on the Texas Eastern system in Lincoln County."
The blast also damaged railroad tracks, forcing 31 trains to back up overnight, authorities said.
Some 75 people in the Indian Camp trailer park in the Moreland community were evacuated to the New Hope Baptist Church in Stanford. Gilliam encouraged anyone who fled the scene and hasn't been accounted for to check in at the church. Authorities also urged people gathering for the multistate 127 Yard Sale to stay away as crews worked to contain the damage.
Gilliam said residents whose homes are still standing should be allowed back in later in the day.
A gas explosion rocked a community in Kentucky and left one person dead early Thursday, authorities said.
Authorities evacuated residents in Moreland after the explosion, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said. The number of people evacuated was not immediately available.
A shelter has been set up at a local church. The Perryville Fire Department said that preliminary reports show that a gas line ruptured.
Sofia Nunez was at home in Moreland, Kentucky, when the explosion happened.
"There was a loud noise and it sounded like a tornado was outside our house. When you stepped outside you could hear the flames and feel the heat. It shook the house for nearly 30 minutes after the flames appeared and neighbors windows were shattered," Nunez told CNN.
Charlie Lynch, in Danville, woke up to the whole sky lit up from the explosion. He said he drove 10-15 minutes before taking video, with flames and smoke visible the whole way.
