1.4 Response to Pipeline Rupture
1.4.1 Local Emergency Response
At 12:41 p.m., the Metro Emergency Operations Center (Metro 911) received the first 911 call.13 The caller reported that a “gas main blew up” and there was a huge fire near Archibald Drive in Sissonville. At 12:43 p.m., firefighters from Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department Station 26 and Malden Fire Department Station 3 were paged to respond. Between 12:42 p.m. and 12:50 p.m., additional fire companies, emergency medical services, and Kanawha County sheriff deputies were dispatched to respond to the accident. An emergency medical services medic was the first to arrive on scene about 12:49 p.m. 13 The Metro Emergency Operations Center is the emergency services dispatch center for Kanawha County, West Virginia.
NTSB Pipeline Accident Report
11
A Sissonville fire department lieutenant and a firefighter responded to the accident scene with a fire engine, and upon arrival at the scene, the lieutenant assumed incident command. The Sissonville fire chief responded to the accident scene with a tanker, and while en route, he began communicating with the other responders to ensure that enough fire department and law enforcement resources were dispatched. On his arrival at the scene, he assumed incident command and requested that the dispatch center notify the gas companies operating in the accident area.
The incident command post was established on Route 21. Police closed Route 21 and I-77 and set up a security perimeter around the accident site. Additional fire engines and tankers were requested and obtained from surrounding fire departments. As responders continued arriving on scene, they reported to Metro 911 that there was heavy smoke and fire in the area and it appeared to be a natural gas fire. Metro 911 began notifying gas companies operating in the area at 1:01 p.m. At 1:06 p.m., Metro 911 notified Appalachian Power of the incident to ensure power was shut down at the accident location. At 1:15 p.m., Metro 911 spoke with personnel at the Columbia Gas Lanham compressor station and asked them to shut down “the main line that was on fire.”
Metro 911 notified the incident commander that a woman was trapped in her house on Route 21, so a fire engine company entered the house and rescued her. After the flow of gas was stopped, firefighters worked to suppress the house fires near the rupture. However, three houses and some vehicles parked nearby were destroyed. The incident commander concluded fire operations about 10:00 p.m.