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ST. ELMO, IL (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
Two Illinois gas plant workers are injured during a fire. The fire happened at the Natural Gas Pipeline Company in St. Elmo, Illinois, located just east of Vandalia, IL.
The company suspects that the fire started during some welding work on an above ground storage tank which contained natural gas. The fire was contained to the property of the gas company and there were no evacuations in the area. Emergency crews responded quickly to the scene, one of the first to arrive was St. Elmo Police Chief, Ken Thomason. He feared the worst when he looked up and saw the flames.
One explosion after another was how one witness described a fire at a natural gas plant in St. Elmo, IL on Wednesday. Two employees of the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America were taken to an Effingham hospital but the fire was contained to the company property
One of the first to arrive on the scene was also the police chief.
"Just lots of huge balls of smoke coming up probably almost as high as you could see," said Chief Ken Thomason, St. Elmo police department.
Firefighters used a foaming agent to douse the flames and brought it under control in about an hour. A company spokesman says welding work was being done on an above ground storage tank when the fire started.
"Got out of my car and started using my cell phone and a couple big explosions happened then and more huge balls of smoke come up out of the factory.
The good news is some first responders just met with company officials to map out what to do in a disaster. They said it helped them know exactly where to go and what to do. A statement released by the company indicated an investigation will be done to determine exactly what went wrong.
The company suspects that the fire started during some welding work on an above ground storage tank which contained natural gas. The fire was contained to the property of the gas company and there were no evacuations in the area. Emergency crews responded quickly to the scene, one of the first to arrive was St. Elmo Police Chief, Ken Thomason. He feared the worst when he looked up and saw the flames.
One explosion after another was how one witness described a fire at a natural gas plant in St. Elmo, IL on Wednesday. Two employees of the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America were taken to an Effingham hospital but the fire was contained to the company property
One of the first to arrive on the scene was also the police chief.
"Just lots of huge balls of smoke coming up probably almost as high as you could see," said Chief Ken Thomason, St. Elmo police department.
Firefighters used a foaming agent to douse the flames and brought it under control in about an hour. A company spokesman says welding work was being done on an above ground storage tank when the fire started.
"Got out of my car and started using my cell phone and a couple big explosions happened then and more huge balls of smoke come up out of the factory.
The good news is some first responders just met with company officials to map out what to do in a disaster. They said it helped them know exactly where to go and what to do. A statement released by the company indicated an investigation will be done to determine exactly what went wrong.
