A ‘Blow Torch’: Louisiana Pipeline Explosion Leaves Five Injured, One Missing
As emergency response teams wait for a fire at a Phillips 66 pipeline in St. Charles Parish to burn out, a family waits to hear the fate of a loved one.
The call came in at 6:42 pm on Feb. 9 from an unnamed operator at the Phillips 66-operated Paradis Pipeline Station, located 30 minutes west of New Orleans in St. Charles Parish, La. The caller was reporting an electrical fire at the facility. Multiple calls to the parish’s emergency response office and 9-1-1 line followed within minutes, with the callers reporting loud noises and a possible explosion at the pipeline. Shortly thereafter, emergency response operators lost communication with the facility.
