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Oklahoma gas pipeline explodes, shooting flames 500 feet into the air

By
Li Cohen
Senior Social Media Producer
Li Cohen is a senior social media producer at CBS News. She previously wrote for amNewYork and The Seminole Tribune. She mainly covers climate, environmental and weather news.
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Li Cohen

/ CBS News

A gas pipeline exploded in an Oklahoma town near the Texas border overnight, creating a glow that could "be seen for miles," local fire officials said Wednesday. 

Photos and videos of the explosion posted on social media show flames shooting high into the air and illuminating an otherwise dark night sky with a red haze. The has not publicly provided details about the status of the pipeline, only saying overnight on Facebook that its crews responded to a "pipeline blow out." CBS News has reached out to the fire department for more information. 

fire.png
A fire burns due to a gas pipeline explosion in Laverne, Oklahoma, U.S. January 30, 2024, in this screen grab taken from a video.  Booker Fire Department/Handout via REUTERS

Locals commented on the fire department's social media post that they could see the fire from miles away. 

"We are 36 miles away from the fire and we can see it," one person said, while another posted a photo of the fire's glow from roughly 25 miles away. 

423237238-805866194906887-5983518877912125820-n.jpg
This photo posted to social media by the Elmwood Fire Department in Oklahoma shows a red glow emerging from the site of a gas pipeline explosion.  Elmwood Fire Department via Facebook

The Booker Fire Department, which serves Booker, Texas, about 20 miles away from Elmwood, also responded to the fire. They posted videos of the explosion, saying it was a gas line. 

"Crews from several departments are staged at a safe distance until the gas can be turned off," said on one of the videos. "...The flames are estimated to reach over 500 feet high."

The cause of the pipeline explosion has not been announced. 

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