STRASBURG, Va. – A gas line exploded Tuesday near a highway in rural western Virginia, but no injuries were reported, according to local officials.
TC Energy said it was notified of a fire after there was a pressure drop in its Columbia Gas Transmission Pipeline along Interstate 81 around 8:40 a.m., the company said in a statement. That section of the pipeline near Strasburg was shut down as a precaution, TC Energy said.
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Witnesses saw the explosion in a field off Interstate 81 after 8 a.m. and called authorities, Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Vollmer said by telephone. The explosion happened near Battlefield Road and Copp Road, she said.
The interstate was closed briefly, but the fire has been contained, Vollmer said. No structures were threatened, she said.
Jordan Morgan of Broadway in Rockingham County was driving to work Tuesday morning and could see the flames as he got on the interstate several miles to the south at Woodstock. As Morgan traveled north, he said he realized that the towering blaze shooting up high above the trees along southbound lanes was not a controlled burn as he first assumed. Had he been traveling on the other side of the highway, Morgan said he might not have felt comfortable driving past.
“I could feel the heat and pressure from it,” Morgan said. “I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
TC Energy said it in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the fire had been extinguished and it was working with local authorities to investigate the explosion. The company said it has established an approximately 1,650-foot response radius to ensure the safety of the community and asked the public to avoid the area.
Strasburg is about 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Washington, D.C.