The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday released their preliminary report on the incident that led to the gas line explosion and fire on Feb. 22.
Click here to read the full preliminary report
In the first portion of the report, the NTSB states that an underline gas leak resulted in a commercial building explosion which destroyed the building and caused an evacuation of the surrounding community.
No injuries or deaths occurred and the NTSB states that the damages are to be approximately $975,000.
The report states that the Reno County dispatch received a gas odor report from the public at approximately 9:26 a.m., and that Hutchinson Fire Department arrived on the scene approximately seven minutes later at 9:33 a.m.
After the explosion ONE Gas, the parent company of Kansas Gas Service, excavated the area exposing approximately 120-feet of the ten-inch steel gas main. During the excavation, a leak was found at a girth weld, which is where two gas pipes are welded along their circumference.
The NTSB while on scene conducted a visual examination of the pipeline, collected physical evidence and conducted interviews. A portion of the gas line was later transported to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington DC for evaluation and testing. Currently the investigation by the NTSB is ongoing.
The report says that future investigative activity will focus on previous failures and the leak history of the pipeline as well as aspects o ONE Gas’s integrity management program and state regulatory oversite; ONE Gas emergency response training and ONE Gas’s leak response, safety management system program and isolation planning tool.