3:15am UPDATE:
Matt Evans with KMBC tweets: “Pettis County Sheriff Kevin Bond: Several buildings still on fire near the pipeline explosion. Fire crews still working those fires.”
3:06am UPDATE:
A rupture and explosion in a gas pipeline in west-central Missouri overnight sent flames into the air that were visible for miles. Residents in Sedalia reported their homes were shaking.
The rupture happened around 1 a.m. south of Houstonia in a 30-inch gas natural gas pipeline outside a compressor station. Media reports indicate Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Company shut off the flow of gas to the line and reported the fire on the pipeline was out around 2:30 a.m.
The company says no injuries or fatalities occurred. The cause of the rupture is under investigation.
Panhandle experienced a rupture in 2008 in Cooper County that resulted in a similar explosion. Flames in that incident were seen by witnesses more than 70 miles away.
In the 2008 rupture, more than 13-million cubic feet of natural gas was released and damage was calculated at more than $1-million. The cause of that rupture was attributed to corrosion.
2:34am UPDATE:
Matt Evans with KMBC in Kansas City tweets:Â “Panhandle Eastern spokesperson: fire is out, valve is shut off & the company is now investigating exactly what happened.”
2:02am UPDATE: Â
A representative of Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co says a 30-inch natural gas pipeline outside a compressor station has ruptured and exploded. The company says there have been no injuries or fatalities.Â
The cause is under investigation.
See a short video posted by Youtube user John Pahlow of the explosion and fire below: Â
Original story:Â
Emergency crews are responding to an explosion in west-central Missouri’s Pettis County.
Representative Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia) has tweeted that the explosion happened about 15 miles north of Sedalia in the Hughesville area, on the Panhandle Pipeline.   The Pettis County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed a pipeline explosion south of Houstonia. A five-mile radius around the explosion has been evacuated.
Missourinet will have more information as it becomes available.