18 June 2013, News Wires – A major natural gas pipeline exploded in Washington Parish, Louisiana, forcing an evacuation of the area but causing no injuries, according to reports.
A spokeswoman for the Washington Parish sheriff’s department told Reuters that the explosion on the Florida Gas Transmission pipeline sparked a fire on the line and sent flames shooting into the air.
The fire, which was contained, destroyed a nearby mobile home but caused little other damage, according to the report. Fifty-five people were evacuated in the rural town of Enon, about 80 miles north of New Orleans.
The 3.1 billion cubic-feet-per-day pipeline carries gas from Texas to customers in south Florida. A section of the line was shut in and gas was re-routed.
An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the blast. There was no word on when the pipeline would be restarted.
The line is owned by an affiliate of Energy Transfer Partners-Kinder Morgan.
