Gas utility station hit by fire in Fort Smith

FORT SMITH — An investigation is underway after a fire at an Arkansas Oklahoma Gas interconnect station at Massard Road and Zero Street on Wednesday night.

Lizzy Reinholt, senior director of sustainability and corporate affairs for Arkansas Oklahoma Gas, said Thursday no one was injured. Damage to property was “relatively minor,” although the company didn’t have an estimate of the damage.

“We are grateful for the quick response from the Fort Smith Fire and Police departments last night as they worked to limit the spread of the fire,” Reinholt said. “Because of their leadership and coordination we were all able to work together to protect public safety and address this situation.”

Reinholt said Arkansas Oklahoma Gas received a call from the Police Department at 9:20 p.m. with an officer saying there was a small fire at a meter at the station. A crew was dispatched to respond to the fire alongside the Fire and Police departments, with the company containing the fire by stopping the flow of gas and taking the main line out of service.

Arkansas Oklahoma Gas turned off gas service to 20 customers as a precautionary measure. All but three have had their gas restored by Thursday afternoon.

Mark Talley, division chief of operations for the Fire Department, said after receiving a call and responding to the incident, the department set up to protect surrounding property from the fire, which had grown.

“In a gas fire like that, it looks really impressive, but it’s actually a good thing because if it’s burning, we know where the gas is, so we can just protect the surrounding buildings and exposures and let it burn,” Talley said. “And then, once the gas company gets there, they’ll shut the gas off to it, and then it’ll go out that way. You don’t really want to put a gas fire out because you don’t know where the gas goes, if that makes sense.”