Residents upset they weren't notified of gas leak

Sunday, February 18, 2007

(2/18/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- The fire that shot more than 100 feet in the air last night is now out. A bulldozer hit a natural gas pipeline Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't until hours later the explosion occurred.

The pipeline is in a field near the intersection of Fry Road and Longenbaugh. The explosion happened around 6:30pm, resulting in flames that could be seen for miles.

The company tells us a third party bulldozer ruptured the 30-inch natural gas line around 2:10pm Saturday. They report they had already shut down the line and isolated it when the fire started, possibly ignited by that same bulldozer.

Folks in the area say they didn't know what was going on. A lot of them believed a plane had crashed after hearing the explosion. Several of them complained that if they had known what was happening, they wouldn't have been so afraid last night.

"We could hear the roar of the gas and we could feel the soot coming down on us and we were just wondering when they were going to get to the gas to turn it off," said concerned resident Lou Sanchez.

"This is our home. This is not where we rent or anything. This is our home," said upset resident Georgia Sergent. "They should have more consideration of homeowners and they should let us know what is going on in our neighborhood."

Emergency workers tell us that had they known about the initial gas leak that happened around 2pm they could have notified people but that didn't happen.

No one was injured in the explosion.

Tennessee gas officials were on the scene Sunday morning, checking things out. The company reports that there should be no disruption in natural gas service to its customers. The line runs from south Texas to the northeastern U.S.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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