Monday, August 17, 2015

Worker injured after gas line rupture and explosion at home construction site in West Virginia






By Jeff Jenkins in News


August 17, 2015 at 4:19PM

WINFIELD, W.Va. — 


A worker was burned when a natural gas line exploded at a house construction site in Putnam County near Winfield Monday afternoon.

The explosion and fire occurred after a contractor struck the four-inch line while working on the new home’s driveway. The gas company contacted Joe Tolley Contracting to go to the scene to repair the leak. Not long after arriving the explosion occurred, Joey Tolley told MetroNews.

“It was blowing very loudly, you couldn’t hear anything. So we were in there trying to figure out exactly what we needed to do to get it shutdown and repaired and in the midst of that it ignited somehow and one our guys got burnt,” Tolley said.

The worker was taken to Cabell Huntington Hospital by ambulance. He appeared to have burn injuries to his arms. He was walking around, Tolley said.

Fire crews from Winfield were able to put out the blaze. There was no indication late Monday afternoon what may have sparked the gas.

A backhoe-type piece of equipment was destroyed in the fire. Tolley said he’s thankful there weren’t more serious injuries. It could have much worse, he said.

The house is located near the intersection of Rocky Step Road and Harmon Branch Road.