Few answers emerge in pipeline blast near Alex
NATURAL GAS BREAK3 HOMES DESTROYED; WOMAN HURT

BY JENNIFER GRISWOLD AND BRIAN SARGENT

Published: November 15, 2008

ALEX — When Larry Abel stepped out to his front yard at 3 a.m. Friday, it looked like the middle of the day. Then he saw the flames.

"It’s one of those deals you knew it couldn’t be good,” he said.

Abel lives about three miles from where a 20-inch natural gas pipeline exploded Friday morning, destroying three homes and sending one woman to the hospital with second- and third-degree burns to more than 15 percent of her body. The line break was two miles east of Alex on State Highway 19 in Grady County. Flames could be seen for miles and sparked a grass fire.

"You could have gone outside and gone to work,” Abel said. "It was like daylight out there.”

Two trailer houses and a rock home were located near the blast site. All three were destroyed.

Four people were inside the trailer houses at the time of the blast. The rock home wasn’t occupied.

Mildred Hull was in one of the trailer homes. She was listed in good condition at the Integris Baptist Medical Center burn unit, a hospital spokeswoman said. Stanley Hull, her husband, also was home during the blast, Alex residents said. The extent of his injuries are not known.

A woman and her son, who is a junior at Alex High School, were in the other trailer across the road and weren’t injured in the blast, fire officials said.

Officials from Enogex, the company that operates the line, and Oklahoma Corporation Commission inspectors are investigating to determine what caused the line to break.

Enogex spokesman Gil Broyles said a section of pipe about 16 to 18 feet long blew, causing a crater 30 to 40 feet wide. The company sent workers to close valves on either end of the rupture area after a computer monitoring system noted a drop in pressure, Broyles said. The company has removed the damaged section of pipe for testing.

‘A ball of fire’

The blast was heard by people miles away. Alex resident Kent McLemore was awakened by a call from a friend shortly after 3 a.m. asking what was happening near his house. McLemore, who lives within a few miles of the blast, went outside and saw what he described as "a ball of fire.”

He rushed to the scene to see what was going on. When he drove up, he saw a woman sitting with her burned legs stretched out in front of her.

"She was sitting up, but she was in a lot of pain, too,” he said.

The community is accepting donations to help the families, who lost everything. Alex School Superintendent Norvel Heston said people can bring donations of clothing and household items to the school, 209 S Second St., and they’ll be distributed to the families.

Enogex officials have offered temporary housing and transportation for the families.

Contributing:

Staff Writer Bryan Painter