A fiery natural gas pipeline explosion in South Texas has been contained.
San Antonio-based Lewis Energy Group confirmed the incident occurred in Encinal, 25 miles north of Laredo, about 4:15 Friday morning.
Encinal City Manager Velma Davila says many residents were startled when they heard the explosion. ”They were woken up with the large sound, the explosion,” she said. “I think people just got up, got scared and started leaving their homes because they weren’t aware of what happened.”
Davila says there were no injuries but 30 to 40 people were given the option to evacuate to the Encinal City Hall. Classes were canceled at the Encinal Elementary School which is about 500 yards from the pipeline. Davila says Lewis Energy is investigating the cause of the explosion. “They’re just as concerned about our citizens as we are right now. We’ll get together at a later time and see what we can do in this situation if it occurs again,” Davila said.
Lewis Energy is a major oil and natural gas exploration and production company.
