Thousands without natural gas in Tulsa following gas line rupture

A huge natural gas line explosion on a busy Tulsa street Thursday initially left an estimated 70,000 customers of Oklahoma Natural Gas without gas to heat their homes and businesses.

Fortunately, no one was injured even though nearby witnesses described the sound as a jet plane when the 16-inch transmission line ruptured.  Adding to the good luck, warmer weather arrived Friday and this weekend as ONG crews worked to repair damages.

“Chaos ensued – people running everywhere and couldn’t really see. Visibility was really, really low,” said Brayden Tracy in an interview with Tulsa TV station News on 6.Tracy works in the area.

People said the explosion sounded like an airplane.

John Sigurdson was close to the explosion and said: “It sounded like an engine a jet engine going off.”

“It was really, really loud almost kind of like a thunder strike, but it was louder than that at first,” Tracy said.
“We thought it was a jet, a big jumbo.”

However, Tulsa police indicated it could be several days before repairs are made and the area near 21st and Memorial is open to traffic.

Tulsa Police evacuated a two-block radius including at least 100 senior citizens from a nursing center, many of whom needed EMSA to help move them.

The line apparently was ruptured by a truck and at one point, fire crews used trucks parked from a distance to spray water onto the spewing gas.

A statement issued by ONE stated the outage of gas is in a 3-mile radius around the site.

 

“Resources have been mobilized to begin work to restore natural gas service to our customers as quickly and as safely as possible. Our technicians will be going to each affected home/business to turn off the meter,” stated the company.

Tulsa Police evacuated a two-block radius including at least 100 senior citizens from a nursing center, many of whom needed EMSA to help move them.

The Tulsa Fire Department urged people to stay away from the area so emergency crews can work.

“We have specially trained crews – Hazmat crews are here, ONG is here and they are all experts in that so they train and they prepare,” said Firefighter Andy Little, Public Information Officer with the Tulsa Fire Department.

Tulsa Public Schools canceled all after-school athletic activities at the nearby Nathan Hale High School. ONG, PSO Tulsa Police and Tulsa Fire are all working, trying to get things back to normal.