WYNNE, Ark. — Debris from an overnight storm broke a valve on a 30,000 gallon tank of liquid propane, prompting an evacuation for some people living nearby.
The tank continued leaking for much of Wednesday.
“They told us we need to evacuate and evacuate immediately,” said Secquoyah Webster. “No pause, no pause on that. We had to go and go quickly.”
Webster was among those evacuated after high winds ripped the roof off a building next to the tank.
Flying debris snapped a valve on top of the tank, owned by Ameri-Gas, and emergency crews started evacuating residents within a quarter mile of the leak.
“It didn’t really scare me, but I could hear the sound because you could hear it over the thunder,” Sandra McGill said. “It was like a gushing sound when it was coming out of the tank.”
Wynne fire and police went to about 200 homes telling residents to leave.
While firefighters kept the tank cooled off Wednesday, workers started transferring the propane to an empty tanker truck.
“Well, it’s difficult because the leak in the top of the tank is slow and it’ll take a long time for it to bleed itself out,” said Glenn South, director of Cross County Office of Emergency Management. “They’ve got a tanker truck here and they’re pumping fuel, or the gas, out of that tank and it’s a long process.”
The storm knocked down some trees and power lines in Wynne, one of them falling dangerously close to the leaking tank.
“We did have a power line down next to it, but they took care of that and killed the line,” South said. “It was just a miracle it didn’t ignite. That would have been a serious problem.”
There were no injuries during the incident and residents have now been allowed to return home.
