One seriously injured, residents evacuated after car crashes into Mansfield gas pipeline
One person was seriously injured in a large fire after a car crashed into a natural gas pipeline in Mansfield early Wednesday morning, fire officials said.
Mansfield police are now saying the driver could face criminal charges.
The accident occurred around 1 a.m. near U.S. 287 and State Highway 360. Mansfield police said a Grand Prairie police dispatcher contacted them about a wrong-way driver traveling at a high rate of speed, heading southbound in the northbound lanes of Highway 360 at Ragland Road.
The vehicle was seen moments later on the North Texas Tollway Authority camera system and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper assigned to that area was alerted, according to a news release from Mansfield police.
As the driver neared U.S. 287, the vehicle went off the road and hit a natural gas pipeline located about 125 feet off the the roadway, according to the release. Police said the impact caused a large fire at the gas pipeline.
Local fire departments from Mansfield, Grand Prairie and Arlington all responded to the scene, and residents who lived in a one-mile radius were evacuated. Residents seeking shelter were advised to stay at Annette Perry Elementary School.
Police said the driver was airlifted to a local hospital with major injuries, but did not provide additional details.
Around 3:30 a.m., the fire was extinguished and evacuated residents were able to return home as of 4 a.m.
Nearby roadways, U.S. 287 and northbound Highway 360, had also reopened as of Wednesday morning, but police did not provide updates about closures to southbound Highway 360 and eastbound U.S. 287 frontage road.
Mansfield police said around 5:40 a.m. that those roadways were closed and drivers would need to use Lone Star Road. A police spokeswoman did not immediately reply to a request for an update on the status of those roads.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 9:14 AM.
