The tone sounded at 1646 hours and Henrico firefighters quickly rallied to the call, heading to a hazardous jet fuel spill at 3700 Barrington Bridge Place on Monday, April 17.
Rescue crews began evacuating residents from around twenty nearby homes in the upscale neighborhood, where the value of the homes range from $800,000 to a million plus dollars.
Responding crews included: Haz mat, Engines 9, 10, 11, 13, Water Rescue 2, Squad 13, Battalion 1, CS1 and the Fire Marshal. Also on scene and monitoring the situation is the EPA and DEQ.
Henrico crews set up booms in a nearby lake to contain the fuel that leaked into the water.
Lt. Gary Hutchison of Henrico Fire Division said the pipeline which carried Jet A-fuel, ruptured and spewed contents over 40 feet in the air and over 40 yards or more away.
The pipeline ran through many resident's backyards.
Hutchison described the scene with fuel covering pine trees, splashed upon buildings, driveways and yards. Clay, sand and boulder-like clumps were blown out of the ground he said.
A strong, pungent fuel odor remained in the air. Residue covers much of the area.
Officials said the pipeline is 12-inch and has a thousand pounds of pressure.
Special equipment is being used to vacuum up the jet fuel.
Officials estimate clean up could take up to a week.
The pipe that ruptured Monday was replaced, but the company had to remove the new section after state inspectors were concerned about the welding.
The additional repair caused a delay in the opening of the pipeline which runs from Louisiana to Washington, D.C.
Wednesday afternoon, April 19, Henrico County Supervisor Dave Kaechele toured some of the damage. Residents aired some of their concerns about the long-term impact of the fuel spill to Kaechele.
Kaechele said it would take an extensive clean-up effort to restore it back to where it was.
Kinder Morgan a Houston, Texas company owns and operates the pipeline.
Meetings are being held with the residents to deliver updates and discuss the situation.
Spill estimates have not been made available but is believed to be thousands of gallons.
