KINDER MORGAN TEJAS PIPELINE

Incident Narrative

AT 21:20 ON MAY 8, 2013, A COMPRESSOR STATION FIRE ALARM WAS LOGGED AT THE TEJAS GAS CONTROL CENTER. EMERGENCY STATION SHUTDOWNS WERE INITIATED AND LOCAL OPERATING PERSONNEL WERE DISPATCHED TO THE SCENE. UPON ARRIVAL AT THE STATION, THE OPERATOR PERSONNEL CONFIRMED THAT A FIRE WAS IN PROGRESS, THAT THE STATION ESD HAD BEEN INITIATED AND THEY NOTIFIED THE LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL DETERMINED THAT THE SAFEST COURSE OF ACTION WAS TO ALLOW THE FIRE TO BURN DOWN AND EXHAUST THE AVAILABLE FUEL BEFORE STARTING FIRE SUPPRESSION. THE FIRE BURNED APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS BEFORE IT WAS FULLY EXTINGUISHED. THE FIRE INVOLVED A COVERED COMPRESSOR ENCLOSURE. THE ENCLOSURE IS A ROOFED STRUCTURE WITH OPEN SIDES (NO WALLS). FOUR SOLAR SATURN PACKAGE COMPRESSOR UNITS WERE INSTALLED INSIDE THE ENCLOSURE. UNITS 2 & 3 WERE FULLY INVOLVED IN THE FIRE AND SUSTAINED HEAVY DAMAGE. UNITS 1 & 4 SUSTAINED LIGHT DAMAGE. NO NATURAL GAS PIPING AT THE STATION WAS BREACHED OR DAMAGED BY THIS INCIDENT. THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE WAS INVESTIGATED AND COULD NOT BE DETERMINED DUE TO THE FIRE DAMAGE TO THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. BOTH LUBE OIL AND RESIDUAL NATURAL GAS IN THE UNIT PIPING FUELED THE FIRE WHICH WERE ALLOWED TO BE CONSUMED BEFORE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EXTINGUISHED THE REMAINDER OF THE FIRE. THIS INCIDENT WAS TELEPHONICALLY REPORTED TO THE TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION AT 22:40 ON MAY 8, 2013. THE COMMISSION REPORT NUMBER IS 810.