WARD COUNTY, Texas — The Ward County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the fire has now been contained as of 11:45 a.m. and that the fire is believed to have been caused by two different explosions that happened.
NewsWest 9 was informed by Captain Ozuna with the Ward County Sheriff's Department that a pipeline ruptured, and this caused a second pipeline to rupture.
According to Captain Ozuna, the issue was that the first pipeline that had busted was a gas pipeline. After that one ruptured, the Ward County Sheriff's Office has reason to believe that the static electricity with the power line mixing with the gas caused the second explosion. The second pipeline actually was carrying liquid of some sort. It's unknown if it's oil or another flammable liquid.
"The call came out at 5:19 a.m. for the first initial rupture and I believe the second explosion went off somewhere around 5:24 a.m. So, within five minutes of each other," said Captain Ozuna. "We know that the damage is mainly specific to the pipeline and the road. It created a large crater in the road."
There was one person present at the time of the explosion. It is unknown if he is actually a direct employee.
But there have been no reported injuries.
The fire departments involved are waiting for the gas to "bleed out" before they start to spray water.
NewsWest 9 has learned that the fire is in the area of Mile Marker 57 on I-20 in the area of Pyote, Texas.
We will continue to update as we gather more information.