Crews continuing to restore natural gas service after outage caused by fire in Toppenish Friday - Yakima Herald-Republic

Crews continuing to restore natural gas service after outage caused by fire in Toppenish Friday | Local | yakimaherald.com

Workers with Cascade Natural Gas are still in the Lower Yakima Valley working to restore natural gas in Zillah, Toppenish, Wapato and Granger after a fire disrupted service Friday.

Cascade expected to complete restoration Sunday in Zillah and Toppenish, according to a 10 a.m. update on the company's website. Workers planned to start restoration later Sunday in Wapato and Granger "and should have those communities completed by tomorrow, Monday," the update says.

Natural gas was reintroduced Saturday into the service lines in Toppenish, according to a news release from Cascade that evening. Cascade officials had anticipated that crews would begin going meter to meter in Toppenish that evening to start the restoration process, the release said.

Crews will require access to meters and natural gas appliances for relighting efforts. Pets should be contained. For safety and to avoid equipment damage, Cascade requests that people on properties allow workers to open Cascade's valve at their meter to restore service.

If you smell natural gas or receive a door tag, call Cascade Natural Gas at 888-522-1130, option 1. More updates will be provided on Facebook, Twitter and on the Cascade Natural Gas website at cngc.com, company officials said.

The cause of the incident is under investigation, Toppenish Fire Department Chief Timothy B. Smith said in a news release.

The fire department was dispatched at 10:26 a.m. Friday to a reported fire and explosion in the 600 block of Buena Way, in the area of the former Utah and Idaho Sugar factory site on the northern edge of Toppenish. Though the site is occupied by other businesses now, some historic structures remain.

The first fire engine arrived on the scene at 10:30 and found a pickup on fire next to several Liquefied Natural Gas trailers, with flames from the pickup hitting one of the mobile LNG trailers, the release said. Mutual aid was immediately requested from Yakima County Fire District No. 5, Zillah and Wapato.

Firefighters found a burn victim west of the incident, began first aid treatment and moved the victim farther away. The victim was transported with life-threating injuries to MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital in Yakima.

Multiple law enforcement and emergency response agencies assisted with evacuations within a half-mile radius around Buena Way and East McDonald Road because of the threat of an explosion.

Toppenish Middle School was evacuated. The Washington State Department of Transportation closed State Route 22 in both directions around milepost 2.3. Other roads closed were Buena Way from Interstate 82 to Toppenish, Fraley Road and East McDonald Road. Yakima County Public Works assisted in road closures.

Drone video showed there was no gas leaking from the trailers and that the only fire was from the pickup, wood decking on two trailers and a power pole, according to the news release. Once they could safely enter the scene, firefighters extinguished the fire.

The Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting apparatus from the Yakima Fire Department was requested at the fire due to its ability to discharge a large amount of foam. It wasn't needed once firefighters determined that LNG fuel wasn't leaking or burning, the news release said.

Once the fire was extinguished, crews from Cascade Natural Gas entered the scene and determined that the LNG stored in the eight mobile tanks was stable and secure. Evacuation notices and road closures were lifted at 1 p.m.