In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office reported to an explosion in Lincoln County, Kentucky, near Junction City. The orange glow in the sky caused authorities to shut down Bowens Loop Road in the Moreland community near Junction City and Hustonville, including U.S. 127. Nearly 75 residents that needed to immediately evacuate the area were notified, and the mysterious fire continued to burn on throughout the morning.
As reported by WKYT, the Lincoln County Coroner’s Office has confirmed one casualty from the explosion. On Thursday, they released the identity of the victim as Lisa Denise Derringer, 58, of Stanford.
In the aftermath, the fire spread to the Indian Camp Trailer Park area, which caused five others to be injured, but none were reported to be life-threatening. While the explosion in Danville seemed to come out of nowhere, emergency responders believed that the fire stemmed from a ruptured gas line. The Perryville Fire Department’s kept locals updated by putting out the following official message on their Facebook page at around 3 a.m. ET: “All individuals that have been evacuated due to the fire, New Hope Baptist Church has opened their doors. All are welcome to shelter there until access to your homes is restored…. initial report is that a gas line ruptured in Lincoln County, south of Junction City. Please do not travel to this area or attempt to get anywhere close to the scene. The roadway needs to stay open for emergency responders. Additionally, PLEASE DO NOT call 911 requesting information about this fire.”
Video Shows the Explosion Lit Up the Night Sky
@Kentuckyweather my back yard, Moreland KY
Video of the explosion was caught on video by locals Sofia and Carlos Nunez, and it is a terrifying sight. After posting the video on Twitter she wrote, “You could hear it explode and feel the heat off of it. It finally stopped shaking the house.” People in the immediate area were woken up by the explosion and fled their homes. Locals reported that they felt their windows shaking, and the ground “tumbling and rolling” before feeling the heat from the fire.
Confirming the massive size of the fire, Chief Meteorologist Chris Bailey says the explosion showed up on the weather radar.
Reports from LEX 18 News also showed that the fire was large enough to show up on their doppler report. As a precaution, the gas was shut off in Moreland County near the Boyle-Lincoln line.
#DEVELOPING: Reports of a gas explosion and large fire in the Moreland community near the Boyle-Lincoln county line. Residents are being evacuated and the gas is being shut off in the area. The plume of smoke can be seen on the MaxTrack Live Doppler. @LEX18News
Boyle County emergency managers have ruled out a plane crash as a cause of the fire, and the presumed gas explosion continued to light up the night sky. Authorities are still working to figure out what exactly caused of the fire.
The Fireball Explosion Can Be Seen From Miles Away
Locals online reported could be seen from far outside the rural town, miles outside Lincoln County. The pictures captured from the explosion show the mushroom like cloud that formed in the sky following the explosion. Searing video captured by Twitter user Charlie Lynch shows just how big the flames grew.
@Kentuckyweather, this is the view of the fire from our home in Science Hill, KY (north of Somerset.) Roughly 30-40 miles away from the fire!
Here’s a photo from the 7th floor at UK. Wow!
@Kentuckyweather stanford, ky
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