NUNNELLY, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a morning filled with emergencies, residents who lived near the Kinder Morgan plant are allowed to return back to their homes.
The gas plant suffered an explosion around 8:20 a.m. Friday. "There was a very loud explosion," said Amanda Siegel, Director of Hickman County's Emergency Management Agency. "It blew out the upper tiers of the walls on the upper side of the building."
Siegel says flames and smoke could be seen pouring out of the compression building on the Kinder Morgan campus. Employees were at the plant at the time, but thankfully not in that specific building where the explosion occurred. "Everybody has been evacuated and accounted for," said Hickman County Mayor Jim Bates.
Small fires kept smoldering even hours later, so the next step became evacuating everyone within a one mile radius of the plant. "Went knocking door to door making sure residents were not here. We also sent out alerts as well," said Siegel.
That's when Annette Elliott got a phone call. As President of the Nunnelly Community Center, she raced over to open up one of the two designated shelter destinations, to provide a place of refuge for those in the evacuation zone. "We did have several people here this morning but they’ve all found alternate places to go," said Elliott.
Finally, around 2:30 pm is when the community got the all-clear. No injuries, roads could reopen and residents could return home. "It’s always in the back of your mind, what if something happens, you know, with that operation out there. It could be disastrous," said Elliott.
Thankfully, it wasn't a major disaster, but it was certainly a scary start to the morning. "This could be been completely worse, so we are very thankful that there has been no major injuries and as of now, there has been no major destruction," said Siegel.
Preliminary, plant officials believe equipment failure is to blame for the explosion, but pledge to do a full investigation into the matter. The compressor building remains closed for the time being.
Emergency agencies from Nashville and Williamson County helped those in Hickman County handle the situation.
