Arnaudville, La ( KADN ) - After the news of a natural gas rupture yesterday, Louisiana State Police and the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office urged residents to evacuate within a half-mile radius of the gas.
No injuries have been reported, but the well is still burning, and law enforcement has closed off roads even further. The company responsible for the gas well has been identified as Precision Drilling. officials are still on high alert and asking residents to evacuate voluntarily, but residents tell me they hope this never happens again.
"I wouldn't wish this on anybody because it was scary."
Wendy Thibodaux and Bryan Herbert say the early morning well rupture was something they'd never heard before.
"We seen fire trucks coming in, so I knew right away it was something to do with the rig, but I wasn't too sure, but then we were hearing that rumble," says Herbert.
The fact it was right down the street from their home made it worse.
"We came outside and it was glowing. I was so scared that it might blow up because the fire was so big last night. It was like daylight at twelve midnight," says Thibodaux.
For another resident, he says at first, he didn't plan to leave, but to know that it is still burning, he has begun to worry. " I have four great-grandchildren sitting in my house right now, and with the environment and the way it is and the fire coming this way, I don't know what is going to happen."
Though Louisiana State Trooper Derek Sengal says there are no major changes, they have begun to bring in heavy equipment to contain the fire, but the time the fire will completely out is unpredictable. "The contractor that is in charge of, you know, extinguishing the fire and also possibly capping the well, they pretty much work around whatever the fire is doing. So it is just one of those things that could take a long time."
Now authorities are still investigating the cause of the rupture. if there is a mandatory evacuation, Trooper Senegal asks residents to make sure their families are out of the area and in a safe place.
The crew is on a twenty-four-hour monitor of the fire as they don't want it to become a bigger problem. NEWS15 plans to provide further details as they become available.
