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Up to date: July 10, 2022 @ 5:53 am Fireplace and thick, black smoke engulf a portion of the ONEOK pure fuel plant south of Medford Saturday, following an explosion on the Grant County facility alongside U.S. 81. (Billy Hefton / Enid Information & Eagle) Fireplace rages contained in the ONEOK pure fuel plant south of Medford alongside U.S. 81 Saturday , July 9, 2022 . (Billy Hefton / Enid Information & Eagle) Fireplace and thick, black smoke engulf a portion of the ONEOK pure fuel plant south of Medford Saturday, following an explosion on the Grant County facility alongside U.S. 81. (Billy Hefton / Enid Information & Eagle) Fireplace rages contained in the ONEOK pure fuel plant south of Medford alongside U.S. 81 Saturday , July 9, 2022 . (Billy Hefton / Enid Information & Eagle) MEDFORD , Okla. , An explosion and ensuing fireplace at a ONEOK pure fuel plant Saturday in Grant County noticed a mass energy outage and close by residents evacuate their properties whereas native emergency authorities spent a number of hours controlling the blaze.
Although energy was restored by OG&E hours later, an evacuation advisement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Workplace for Medford residents dwelling south of Oklahoma 11 was nonetheless in place by Saturday night, Sheriff Scott Sterling advised the Information & Eagle.
The plant sits about 2 miles south of Medford on U.S. 81, which additionally remained closed between Pond Creek and Medford on Saturday night.
Each 81 north and Oklahoma 11 east and west out of Medford have been reopened, Sterling stated.
Based mostly on info from ONEOK, he stated, residents inside a 2-mile radius of the plant have been suggested to evacuate their properties and search shelter at native public buildings akin to Medford Public Faculties, Grant County Expo Middle in Pond Creek and a number of other space church buildings, based on the sheriff’s workplace.
After their dwelling’s energy went out, Medford resident Jessica Willets and her household have been the one individuals on the expo middle Saturday afternoon, staying there for a couple of hours.
Free water was offered to these on the expo middle, 12 miles south of Medford. “My coronary heart broke,” Willets stated. “I used to be like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and I simply prayed to God that nobody was there and that no one obtained damage. “That’s the advantage of dwelling in a small city , individuals actually come collectively to assist,” she stated.
Sterling stated he hadn’t heard of any identified accidents from the explosion or the hearth.
All ONEOK facility personnel have been accounted for, a spokesperson from ONEOK stated. “We're cooperating with native emergency responders and recognize their fast response,” ONG spokesperson Brad Borror stated in an electronic mail Saturday afternoon. “Our focus continues working with emergency responders to extinguish the hearth and the protection of the encompassing neighborhood and our staff.” Borror didn't present particulars about the reason for the explosion in his electronic mail.
He was later unable to be reached Saturday night.
Residents who have been briefly displaced from their properties have been additionally supplied momentary lodging at a number of motels in Enid, over 30 miles southwest.
ONEOK reportedly made preparations for in a single day stays with the Hampton Inn, Vacation Inn Categorical & Suites, Springhill Suites, La Quinta Inn & Suites and Baymont, based on the county sheriff’s office’s Facebook page.
The Tremendous 8 in Blackwell, 25 miles east of Medford, additionally supplied discounted room charges, and the final supervisor later stated just a few of the lodge’s 43 rooms have been nonetheless out there by Saturday night. “I needed to verify (residents) knew that any person cared for them and needed them to be protected,” lodge supervisor Mitzi Graham stated.
Oklahoma Freeway Patrol was notified of the explosion on the liquids fractionation facility shortly earlier than 2:30 p.m.
At round 2:45, OHP cordoned off U.S. 81 from each the north and the south, whereas the sheriff’s workplace suggested the evacuation about an hour after the incident.
Sterling stated the hearth was nonetheless burning on Saturday night, however nowhere close to the extent when he first arrived close to the world of the blaze. “It was a really massive fireplace.
Each time I first arrived close to that space, I used to be just about shocked at what I noticed,” Sterling stated. “You can hear it and really feel it.” He stated he didn’t know the extent of injury to the ONEOK plant, however there was none to the world outdoors of the power.
Emergency personnel from each Garfield and Kay counties reportedly responded to the incident, in addition to Kremlin Fireplace Division and Garfield County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Click on for the most recent, full-access Enid News & Eagle headlines | Text Alerts | app downloads Ewald is copy editor and metropolis/schooling reporter for the Enid Information & Eagle.
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