KGS Home Hutchinson Response Project

On Jan. 17, 2001, a natural gas explosion and fire destroyed two downtown Hutchinson businesses.

Photo from Hutchinson Fire Department (see link to more photos below)

The next day at a mobile home park 3 miles away, another explosion occurred. Two residents died of injuries from the explosion, which forced the evacuation of hundreds of people as gas geysers began erupting in the area

The geysers spewed a mixture of natural gas and saltwater.  The pathways to the land surface at both the explosion sites and the geysers were abandoned brine wells used for solution mining of salt.

 

Photos courtesy of CUDD Drilling (see link to more photos below)

 

 

The natural gas is suspected to have come from a leak at the Yaggy underground gas storage facility, approximately seven miles northwest of Hutchinson.

 

Location of natural gas storage in relation to Hutchinson

Photos Available

For More Info The Hutchinson News

Lawrence Journal-World Special Reports: Hutchinson Fires

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Kansas Geological Survey, Hutchinson Response Project
Updated March 21, 2001
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