Natural Gas Fire Forces Evacuations in Washington State - East Idaho News
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Natural Gas Fire Forces Evacuations in Washington State

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Getty 033114 NaturalGasFire?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1396290119148iStock/Thinkstock(PLYMOUTH, Wash.) — A natural gas fire is burning in rural Washington State near the Oregon border. 

At least one worker has been reported injured in a large explosion that was reported at a storage facility, and there is concern there could be another blast. 

The first blast is said to have started with a ruptured gas line at natural gas facility. Shrapnel from that explosion punctured another gas tank, so there are actually two leaks that crews are trying to contain.

An evacuation order has been expanded with the possibility of another explosion within a two-mile radius, with a kill zone of three-quarters of a mile.

Buses have arrived to evacuate people from the town of Plymouth and parts of the neighboring town of Patterson, two rural towns near the state line along the banks of the Columbia River.

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