By 9:00 this morning, almost everyone in
Corsicana and the surrounding area
knew about the explosion with
a thick black pillar of smoke helping
to spread the news at
the base of the smoke column, an intense
fire raged in the yard of the Rusty
Williams Emergency Railroad Service
Company.
The dramatic scene began about eight
thirty a.m.
with a single simple action which cut
open a 12 inch pipeline containing
petroleum.
Well, I was digging a
hole, that loader.
I thought I was going to dig through
some rocks and try stuff like it.
I think I knew I thought at
both of the hydraulic line on the
machine, I killed the engine and I
was I jumped out there to run, but
it didn't blow that.
Flynn said he was covered with oil from
the gushing pipeline and miraculously
escaped untouched.
One fireman was injured, but not
seriously as the battle to control
the flames dragged on through the day.
Homes and businesses in the immediate
area, which is west of downtown Corsicana
on Highway Thirty one, were evacuated,
mostly because fire officials were
concerned a nearby natural gas pipeline
might also explode.
The petroleum pipeline belongs to Texaco
and the nearest shutoff valve is in Fort
Worth. So to cut the flow of oil
and starve the fire to death, a
construction crew stepped in to install
a plug less than a mile from
the break.
That operation required crewman with
welding torches, a step in
itself described as risky
but necessary to cut the flow of oil
and put out the fire.
Doug Adams, The Texas News,
Corsicana.