Chartiers gas meter station fire causes evacuations
Firefighters responded to a fire at a gas metering station on Western Avenue in Chartiers Township at 10 p.m. Wednesday.
A fire at a gas meter station in Chartiers Township on Christmas Eve could be seen from residents’ homes on Western Avenue.
A fire at a gas meter station in Chartiers Township on Christmas Eve could be seen from residents’ homes on Western Avenue.
About a dozen Chartiers Township residents were evacuated Christmas Eve after a fire broke out at a gas meter station on Western Avenue.
No injuries were reported.
The fire at the Williams Partners L.P. station, which operates an ethane pipeline that runs from Marshall County, W.Va., to Houston, ignited about 10 p.m. Firefighters were able to put out the biggest flames by 11:30 p.m., but waited until 2 a.m. for smaller flames to be extinguished after the facility’s gas valve was turned off. Pipelines bore the brunt of the damage, and some paint was burnt off a metal-sided building, according to Chartiers fire Chief Vince Altieri.
“At first it was (a big fire), but once it died down, basically all it looked like was a flare that they have on the gas wells,” Altieri said. “It wasn’t endangering anything. It was just confined to one corner of that lot.”
The fire rattled some nearby residents. Shawn Sethman said his parents, who live about 150 feet from the facility, were evacuated. Sethman also lives on Western Avenue, but his family was not home at the time.
“My mom was shaken up and scared to death,” he said. “She actually thought everything was blowing up as bad as it was.”
Altieri said a few residents reported hearing explosions, but firefighters only saw fire burning from a pipeline when they arrived. He said firefighters waited for more than an hour for company personnel to arrive at the station, but, by that time, the fire was under control. He said some came from West Virginia, and Sunoco employees also were present.
Residents who lived closest to the facility were taken to Chartiers fire hall, but they were permitted to return home after midnight. A mile-long section of Western Avenue remained closed until after 2 a.m., and emergency responders directed traffic around a detour.
Company spokeswoman Sara Delgado said the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John Poister told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it was caused by over-pressurization that allowed gas to leak or escape from the station. He said the DEP and state Public Utility Commission are investigating.
The company was notified about the fire through its pipeline control system and “responded by closing the main line valve of its Ohio Valley Ethane Pipeline in order to stop the flow of product to the facility,” according to a company statement.
Company personnel depressurized the facility, and the fire was contained to flare area piping.
“The company is assessing the damage to the facility and has initiated an incident investigation,” the company said. “No estimate is currently available so far as when the facility would be returned to service.”
The MarkWest natural gas processing plant, which is located by the meter station, was not impacted by the fire, according to company spokesman Robert McHale.
Sethman lamented the fact it was the second evacuation he and others on his road experienced this year. Nearly 100 residents were evacuated in May when lightning struck the MarkWest plant and caused a gas leak.
“Obviously, it’s not safe,” he said of the gas facilities. “Things like this keep happening and nobody understands that area right there is ground zero.”
In addition to Chartiers Volunteer Fire Department, fire departments in Houston and Mt. Pleasant responded to the fire, in addition to Chartiers and Mt. Pleasant police, Canonsburg EMS and Washington County Hazmat.