By Gina Long
Hutchinson has seen its fair share of disasters, from wildfires to exploding grain elevators.
However, the most recent significant incidents display the community’s ability to unite, work together, and rebuild.
Today, an underground gas pipe leak led to an explosion and destroyed a storied downtown business.
Firefighters were dispatched around 9:30 a.m. to track down the leak’s source. At Steffen’s Auto Parts at Avenue E and Main Street, they had barely exited the building before it exploded, as Hutchinson Fire Department Chief Beer reported during a briefing, which can be seen here on the City of Hutchinson’s Facebook page.
Chief Beer and spokespeople from Kansas Gas and Evergy gave another briefing at 8 p.m., describing the events in as much detail as they could.
The chief’s remarks were peppered with praise for the cooperation between entities and the fact that despite everything that had transpired, miraculously, no one was injured in the incident. During the briefing, a displaced couple asked about returning to their house to retrieve medication and care for a pet. Chief Beer ended his remarks and immediately drew the couple aside to offer assistance.
The fire and police departments secured the evacuation area. Public Works and the Water Department had just come off a long stretch of bitterly cold winter weather preparation, snow removal and burst water pipes when they were again pressed into after-hours service.
The Salvation Army maintained warming centers during the week’s extreme cold snap and now offers food and shelter for the displaced.
Kansas Gas’s spokesperson, Lauren Clary, said the company would work throughout the night to prevent further leaks and discover the explosion’s cause.
Meanwhile, the City of Hutchinson’s Facebook page constantly posted updates about the explosion, the evacuation area, and numbers to call for support services. It may have been the weekend, but the city’s commitment to keeping its citizens informed did not take the day off. Getting correct information out in a timely manner helps dispel rumors and quell panic.
Several people I spoke with throughout the day were living in Hutchinson in 2001 when nearly 150 million cubic feet of gas leaked out of the Yaggy storage facility, migrated along unmapped brine wells, destroyed two downtown businesses and killed two residents in a mobile home park. They feared a repeat of the months-long gas venting plumes up to 30 feet in the air and the unshakeable feeling that another explosion was coming anytime and virtually anywhere.
In 2001, citizens did what they could to help the first responders and those displaced. They did so again during 2017’s massive wildfires north of Hutchinson, the 2022 Cottonwood Complex fire in eastern Reno County, and 2019’s record floods. Those citizens are a mix of emergency services and first responders, aid organizations and volunteers.
Next week, we will see more citizens and organizations step up to help because that is what we do.
How strong is Hutch?
Watch and see.
