Exploding gas pipeline shakes NW Houston

This weekend, Cy-Fair residents were surprised — we imagine that's putting it mildly, actually — when a 31-inch natural gas pipeline exploded, sending a fireball more than 100 feet into the air Saturday evening. Fortunately, the explosion was in an area not immediately near any homes, but it was close enough to make some people really jumpy.

The explosion happened about two miles north of FM 529 and two miles west of Fry Road, near the Blackhorse Ranch development. According to KHOU, a bulldozer operator hit the pipeline, which is owned by Tennessee Gas Pipeline, at about 2:10 p.m. Saturday. TGP said it immediately began isolating the flow of gas to the pipeline and notified a few residents, but the pipeline ended up igniting around 6:35 p.m. Interestingly, the explosion might have been caused by the bulldozer that hit the pipeline: KPRC reports that investigators think the driver may have left the machine's engine running when he ran off after rupturing the line. Smart!

The fire was loud and hot — area residents said it shook their houses and set their car alarms off, and emergency crews initially had to stay a quarter-mile away because of the heat — but it eventually burned out on its own later in the evening. Now people who live nearby are upset that TGP didn't tell all of them about the gas leak in the four hours between the time the pipe ruptured and the time it ignited, and TGP is still investigating the incident. They'll be looking at a number of things, including whether the bulldozer was still running when the explosion occurred. "That's one of the questions we're going to have to determine," said Richard Wheatley, a spokesman for El Paso Corp., which owns TGP.

One person injured in the blast was off-duty Harris County Deputy Constable John Laine, who was walking back to his truck near the pipeline when it exploded. Laine said he wasn't aware the line was leaking until just before the explosion, and by that time it was too late; after the explosion, his blood pressure skyrocketed and he temporarily lost his hearing. "I felt stupid going to the hospital for an earache, but after I blacked out, I didn't have any choice," Laine said.