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Aug. 24, 1996
KEMP, Texas — A liquid butane
pipeline broke and exploded Saturday near a subdivision in this northeast Texas
town, killing two teenagers who inadvertently triggered the blast
with an ignition spark from their truck.
One home was destroyed in the 3:30 p.m. explosion
and about 50 others were evacuated in the rural neighborhood while
firefighters allowed the underground pipeline to burn. The leak
was noticed by a man in the neighborhood who sent his daughter,
Danielle Smalley, and her friend, Jason Stone, to report it. The
teenagers triggered the blast with an ignition spark from their
truck as they were driving away, said Kaufman County Sheriff Robert
Harris.
Ms. Smalley and Mr. Stone, both 17, were killed.
There were no other injuries. Flames reached dozens of feet high
and a column of black smoke could be seen for miles as firefighters
from six communities were called in. "While I was sitting there, it
ignited," said resident Rick Brugette. "The flames came almost up to
the front door of my house. ... It was probably about 150 degrees on
my porch."
Authorities said fuel to the line had been cut
off by 6 p.m., but residual fuel continued to burn throughout the
evening.
The 8-inch pipeline, stretching from Medford,
Okla., to Mont Belvieu, Texas, is operated by Koch Industries. Calls
to company headquarters in Wichita, Kan., Saturday night were not
answered.
A woman who answered the telephone at the nearby
Scurry Volunteer Fire Department said the blast occurred near a
subdivision called Beautiful Acres close to the small, unincorporated
community of Lively. The town is about 10 miles west of Kemp,
which has a population of about 1,280. Kemp is 42 miles southeast
of Dallas.
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