Kansas Crews Move to Fix Gas Leak

Officials worked Friday to plug a leak in an underground gas storage facility blamed for natural gas blasts and geysers, which shot up to 30 feet into the air.

The geysers erupted across the city’s east end, sparking explosions and fires that killed one man, critically injured his wife and forced hundreds of people to flee. Workers were also digging new wells to reduce pressure and transferring gas to other facilities.

“It’s not as much a threat as before, but it is still a hazard,” said Fire Chief Gary Frazier.

Bright yellow flames fed by the gas continued to burn downtown, where a blast Wednesday destroyed two businesses, and three miles away at a mobile home park, the scene of Thursday’s deadly explosion.

“I went outside to look, and all I could see was a black cloud of smoke,” said Jim Gregory, one of 80 to 100 people evacuated from a square-mile area around the Big Chief Mobile Home Park.

John Hahn, 68, died Friday from injuries suffered in that blast, and his wife, Mary Hahn, 64, remained in critical condition. A third victim had minor injuries, said Bill Guy, Reno County emergency management director.

A couple engaged to be married suffered minor injuries in the first blast here, 60 miles northwest of Wichita.

Nine geysers remained active on Friday, eight in the evacuated neighborhood and one downtown.

Experts say the gas is likely coming from a 3.2-billion-cubic-foot storage cavern in Yaggy, seven miles from Hutchinson. The facility, created 550 feet below ground in salt formations and used by Kansas Gas Service, has registered a 100-pound drop in pressure. Frazier said the gas may be moving along city water lines, then rising up through 300-foot brine wells dug to mine salt.

City Manager Joe Palacioz said many of the wells were drilled decades ago, and there is no reliable map of their locations.

Officials expected to reopen an evacuated industrial area soon, but there were no immediate plans to let residents return home.