County officials ordered a brief evacuation of nearly the entire town of Middleton, Idaho, late Thursday morning after a gas pipeline explosion.
A worker ruptured a 22-inch pipeline with an excavator, the Associated Press reported, leading to the order to evacuate the town of roughly 10,600 people roughly 33 miles west of Boise.
Canyon County officials announced the evacuation in a post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, at about 11:20 a.m. local time.
****EVACUATION NOTICE IN MIDDLETON***
Our Sheriff’s Office is currently working to evacuate anyone within a 4-mile radius of Purple Sage Rd. and Duff Ln. in Middleton due to a gas line explosion that occurred near the intersection a short time ago.— Canyon County (@CanyonCo) October 12, 2023
Within about 20 minutes, the gas line had been turned off, according to a follow-up post, and those within the 4-mile evacuation zone were asked to shelter in place and wait for additional updates.
****UPDATE ON GAS EXPLOSION***
We just got word that the gas has been turned off. The evacuation notice has been lifted. Anyone within a 4-mile radius is being asked to shelter in place at this time. Will provide additional updates as they become available.
— Canyon County (@CanyonCo) October 12, 2023
By shortly after 4:00 p.m., the county announced that all orders related to the emergency had been lifted and declared the area safe.
“The gas company is taking over the investigation,” the announcement said.
Thanks to all the neighboring law enforcement and fire agencies for their assistance today. And special thanks to everyone for their cooperation and patience during this incident.
— Canyon County (@CanyonCo) October 12, 2023
The worker who ruptured the line was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries, according to reports.
The gas company, however, claimed that no explosion had taken place, despite social media posts from local residents saying that they’d heard an explosion and then a noise that sounded like “low-flying jets.”
“There was no ignition, fire, or explosion associated with this incident and the cause is under investigation,” the Williams Companies, a natural gas distributor that owns the pipeline, told the AP.
However, Chief David Jones of the Middleton Fire Department Battalion told the AP, “It was a pretty substantial explosion just due to the pressure in that line.”
“The explosion was felt,” Jones added, “and the gas flow could be felt about a mile away.”
KBOI published pictures of what it called the “remains of an excavator that hit a gas line” and reported that a piece of the ruptured pipeline had been found about a quarter of a mile from the scene of the accident.
