ELLSWORTH — A natural gas pipeline explosion was reported Thursday afternoon in Ellsworth county. No injuries have been reported, according to Linda Denning with the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter.
The Ellsworth County Sheriff’s Office posted a warning in the afternoon that emergency responders were at the scene near 23rd Road and Ave. C, and asked people to avoid the area.
Here is what the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter posted on Facebook:
At about 1:14 p.m. Thursday, July 22, Maryanne Frederickson was working in the front yard of her home northeast of Ellsworth (and north of Interstate 70 in Ellsworth County) when she suddenly heard a loud boom nearby.
Her first thought was an airplane had crashed on the other side of the hill south of I-70; instead, it was a natural gas pipeline. She grabbed her camera and took a picture, then came inside and started calling people to figure out what happened.
One of those telephone calls went to her neighbor, Terry Kueser.
He also heard the roar of the explosion.
“I said, uh oh, that sounds like a pipeline,” Kueser said.
Emergency vehicles, including Keith Haberer, emergency management director for both Ellsworth and Russell Counties, were dispatched to the scene. There were no injuries reported.