Gov. Robert Bentley on Tuesday issued a state of emergency intended to ease regulations on fuel transportation in the state as gasoline shortages are expected.
His move follows an explosion in Shelby County on Monday along a main arterial gasoline pipline. The explosion killed one person and injured at least five others.
The State of Emergency will last until Dec. 1 unless Bentley lifts it before then.
The gasoline pipeline, Line 1, remains closed and gas prices in Auburn, Alabama and across the Southeast are expected to rise with the extended closure of the pipeline for the second time in the last two months.
Gasoline futures, according to the Wall Street Journal, rose as much as 15 percent Tuesday on trading in New York. However, the full impact of the explosion won’t be clear until the prices filter through to the pump.
Line 2, which transports diesel, jet fuel and other fuels, began running again Monday night and was not affected during the explosion.
The pipeline, which carries fuel from Texas up the East Coast to New York harbour, caught fire when the trackhoe that a nine-man contract crew was using to work on the pipeline “hit the line,” Colonial said.
Gasoline ignited during the incident and caused a wildfire, which continued to burn late Monday night, according to an update from Colonial at 10:45 p.m. Monday.
Five people were transported to Birmingham-area hospitals after the explosion, but one person was killed, Colonial said.
“Our deepest condolences go out tonight to the family and friends of the person who was lost today, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured,” Colonial said in a statement Monday.
Officials evacuated a 3-mile radius around the explosion zone in an area in Shelby County near Helena, Alabama, Bentley said Monday night.
The governor said officials would have to let the fuel burn until the fire can be extinguished. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire continued to burn.
Firemen and other first responders from across the state rushed to the scene to assist in extinguishing the large fires, which burned nearly 32 acres, according to the governor’s office.
The Alabama Forestry Commission, which has battled to contain more than a thousand wildfires during the major drought over the past month, continues to work the scene.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were injured,” Bentley said. “We have a real drought in this state. ... Our resources have been stretched thin, but we will have enough resources in place. We will put enough resources in place to take care of this and protect the people in that area.”
Crews built an 8-foot-tall dirt dam that is nearly 80 feet long to contain the burning fuel.
The EMA also placed a temporary flight restriction in effect over the area of the pipeline explosion. Only relief aircraft were authorized in the airspace until the thick smoke dissipated.
Immediately after the explosion, Colonial Pipeline company shut down its two mainlines, which cross the state of Alabama.
The location of the explosion was several miles, according to Colonial, from the site of a separate spill on the same pipeline that occurred on Sept. 9 in Shelby County.
Gas prices rose juristically across the state, and stations in Auburn ran dry or raised their prices nearly 20 cents per gallon over several days following the detection of the leak last month.
The September leak also prompted the governor to issue a state of emergency.
The pipeline subject to both the spill and Monday’s explosion is a main artery responsible for delivering gasoline to the Southeast and the East Coast, providing as much as 30 percent of the region’s gasoline.
Colonial Pipeline, the owner, has estimated more than 8,000 barrels of fuel leaked before the pipeline was closed down in September. A reroute was built and the pipeline went back into service later that month.
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