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Santa Fe, Texas Ripped by Natural Gas Line Explosion, Fire Early reports say several CenterPoint Energy contractor workers injured Several members of a work crew were reported to have been injured by what appears to have been a natural gas pipeline explosion and fire in Santa Fe, Texas. Initial images from the scene indicate that the explosion and fire involved a relatively low-pressure residential / light industrial gas line and that damage to adjacent structures is minor. Santa Fe is…

In the midst of an evacuation undertaken in response to a gas leak in Durham, North Carolina, on the morning of April 10, 2019, a massive explosion occurred involving six buildings. One building was completely destroyed, that structure being the headquarters of Prescient Company. The Durham Fire Chief had been a first responder on 9/11 in Washington, D.C., described the scene in Durham as looking like the front of the Pentagon after the terrorist attack, albeit on a smaller scale….

What has become a massive chemical fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Company facility located on Independence Parkway in Deer Park started on March 17, 2019. Overnight between March 18 and 19 the Deer Park ITC fire significantly worsened. Attempts by firefighters to extinguish the blaze have been to no avail as the flames engulfed not just the initial chemical tank that caught fire at the facility but multiple other containment tanks on the premises. The inferno now encompasses sink chemical…

Wisconsin’s only oil refinery not expected to resume full operations until 2020 Calgary, Alberta-based Husky Energy has stated that it does not expect its Superior WI unit, the site of an April fire and explosion, to resume normal operations for at least 18 to 24 months, which would place the restart at between January and July 2020 at the earliest. Initial estimates indicate that that repairs and site cleanup following the April fire and explosion at the only oil refinery…

A series of explosions and fires, believed to have involved at least one natural gas leak, tore through the Boston suburbs of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover late Thursday afternoon. Initial, unconfirmed, reports stated that an “overpressure” situation with a gas line may have started a chain reaction of explosions and subsequent fires. In an overpressure accident one gas line will rupture, usually after being damaged during earlier construction work. Once that rupture occurs, automatic safety valves will shut down…