Disaster averted in natural gas station fire

A potentially disastrous fire and injuries were avoided from a fire at a natural gas pumping station north of New Albany, Monday morning, Oct. 18.

The Kinder-Morgan natural gas pumping facility is located a quarter mile west of the New Albany city limits on the south side of Highway 178.

An apparent electrical accident caused damage to the apparatus that adds the chemical to natural gas, which makes its odor detectable. Otherwise, natural gas has no odor.

Someone driving along Highway 178 saw the fire and called E911. Units of the New Albany Fire Department (NAFD) were dispatched to the scene. NAFD Chief Mark Whiteside said, “Myrtle Fire Department and other county fire departments were also requested or on scene working. The pumping station sits within Myrtle’s primary response district. Due to the possibility of escalation, it was a multi-fire department response for safety.”

The fire was extinguished before there was a major explosion. There were no injuries to fire fighters or to gas department employees who responded to the incident.

Highway 178 was closed to traffic until the fire was brought under control about 9:30 a.m.

Gas workers from the cities of Pontotoc and New Albany repaired the damage.