GATESVILLE, Texas - The Railroad Commission of Texas sent an incident report to Channel 6 Wednesday that pointed to natural gas as the source of the Coryell County Memorial Hospital explosion that left one dead and 15 injured.
On June 26, the day of the blast, Atmos Energy, Mid-Tex reported to the Railroad Commission a "natural gas explosion within the boiler room of the hospital which had been undergoing renovations." The report goes on to state, "Atmos reports that all natural gas mains leading to the hospital were isolated, and the investigation into the cause of the incident continues."
Local investigators have only said the source of the blast may have been from natural gas. Gatesville Police Chief Nathan Gohlke and Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Harrell said Thursday they had not seen the incident report. They also said they did not know if an inspector from the Texas Railroad Commission was at the site of the blast. Ramona Nye, with the Texas Railroad Commission, said a RRC inspector was on the scene to find out if there were violations of RRC pipeline safety rules.
Adolfson & Peterson Construction was the general contractor for the job which began in November 2016. The company's subcontractor, Lochridge-Priest, was working on site at the time of the incident near the central utility plant, which has been called the boiler room, where the explosion occurred.
Fifteen workers were at the scene of the explosion, six being Lochrich-Priest employees. One of the LPI Employees died and the five others were injured. The other workers injured were not LPI employees, according to a spokesperson.
The construction company left the following statement:
Our team is deeply saddened by this tragedy and we are working closely with our partners at
Coryell Memorial and Lochridge-Priest to provide support during this time. Our sincere
condolences, thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those injured and lost.
Corbett Nichter, President, Gulf States Region, Adolfson & Peterson Construction
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Atmos Energy also released a statement regarding Tuesday's deadly explosion:
First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the incident at the Coryell Memorial Hospital in Gatesville.
As part of our normal operating procedures, when Atmos Energy is called to the scene of an incident, we work closely with first responders to keep the area safe. Natural gas has been shut off to the hospital, and we have highly trained personnel on site.
