SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS CO

Incident Narrative

AT 15:18 CST ON 8/9/2021, SOUTHERN NATURAL GAS (SNG) GAS CONTROL WAS NOTIFIED OF A FIRE BY A CUSTOMER AT THE SELMA #2 METER STATION IN SELMA, AL. THE CUSTOMER NOTIFIED EMERGENCY RESPONDERS ABOUT THE INCIDENT AT THE SITE. AT 15:19 SNG GAS CONTROL DISPATCHED EMPLOYEES TO THE SITE OF THE FIRE. TWO SNG OPERATIONS EMPLOYEES RESPONDING TO THE INCIDENT ARRIVED AT THE STATION AT 16:00 AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN ISOLATING THE FACILITY. AT 16:02, VALVE 49 AND VALVE 50, WHICH ARE THE INLET BLOCK VALVES TO THE METER STATION, WERE CLOSED, RESULTING IN THE SNG SELMA #2 METER STATION BEING ISOLATED. ONCE THE SNG SELMA #2 METER STATION WAS ISOLATED, THE PRIMARY FIRE SUBSIDED IMMEDIATELY AND WAS ALLOWED TO COMPLETELY BURN OUT. AT 16:10 AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE LINE (ERL) CALL WAS INITIATED TO SUPPORT THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE. SMALL RESIDUAL FIRES CONTINUED AND BURNED OUT AT 18:00. THE INCIDENT WAS DEEMED SIGNIFICANT PER 49 CFR PART 191.3, THEREFORE REPORTABLE TO PHMSA. THE FIRE BURNED DOWN THE SNG METER STATION, AND FOLLOWING INTERNAL AND THIRD PARTY INVESTIGATIONS OF THE INCIDENT, THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE WAS DETERMINED TO BE A SECONDARY LIGHTNING STRIKE IN THE AREA. DURING THE INVESTIGATION, SNG WAS PROVIDED WITH A PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE CUSTOMER WITH A TIME STAMP OF 15:13 SHOWING SMALL FLAMES IN THE VICINITY OF THE METER STATION. THE THIRD PARTY INVESTIGATION CONCLUDED THAT THE FIRE ORIGINATED OUTSIDE OF THE SNG REGULATOR BUILDING. SNG HAS COMPLETED THEIR REBUILD OF THE METER STATION. IN ORDER TO PREVENT REOCCURRENCE, SNG HAS INSTALLED LIGHTNING ARRESTORS AT THE METER STATION AND RELOCATED THE STATION FURTHER FROM THE CUSTOMER'S FACILITY. THE METER STATION IS CURRENTLY OFFLINE AS SNG IS WAITING FOR THE CUSTOMER TO COMPLETE THEIR PROJECT REBUILDING THE DOWNSTREAM CONNECTION.