GIBSON, La. -- Three people are dead and two people are in hospital burn units Thursday evening after a natural gas plant explosion in Terrebonne Parish.
The explosion occurred around 11 a.m. at the Williams Partners-owned facility in Gibson. Federal regulators are on the way to the natural gas plant to figure out what exactly went wrong, and the three families are grieving the tragic deaths of their loved ones.
"I thought it was just someone playing around doing something," said resident Dwayne Kenny.
An army of emergency responders and black smoke rising into the sky isn't what Kenny expected to see, after hearing a loud boom a mile and a half away at his house. But that's exactly what greeted the Terrebonne Parish man when he showed up to the Williams Partners' natural gas plant on Thursday.
"It concerns everybody. You're concerned for the people that's working there and everything else. Anytime you have an explosion or any type, you don't know what's gonna come out of it," said Larry Marcel, who also heard the loud blast.
Smoke from the explosion continued to rise into the sky Thursday evening, while State Police, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office, local fire departments and other emergency responders remain on the scene 7 hours after the deadly explosion.
Williams Partners which owns the facility says it was not operating at the time and gas was not flowing through the pipeline system during the explosion. The company confirms contractors were performing scheduled facility maintenance before the blast.
State Police say a total of 20 people had been working inside the plant. When emergency responders got to the scene, four workers were missing. Authorities confirmed three people are dead, though they're names or what companies they work for aren't being released. Two other workers are hospitalized with serious burn injuries.
"Our thoughts and prayers at this point are with the impacted families and those people that are injured," said Williams Operations Manager Warren Toups during a news conference.
The company owns another plant in Ascension Parish where back in 2013, an explosion there killed one worker and injured 73 others. But, one parish official says he isn't concerned about the company's track record in Terrebonne Parish.
"That's not in my parish and we work very closely with these guys and so do the first responders to make sure their plant is safe," said Terrebonne Parish Emergency Operations Manager Earl Hughes.
The Gibson-based explosion remains under investigation.
"We will cooperate with authorities. We will cooperate with all the regulatory agencies and we will thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident, but at this time, we don't have any particular information to that effect," said Toups.
Safety now obviously put into question as three families mourn the loss of their loved ones and two others fight for their lives in hospital burn units.
"They should get OSHA involved in it more. Go around different plants, have safety reps, go around and check things like they should," said Kenny.
"You don't want to see it because like I said, I worked in the oil field for over 38 years. I know what it's about," added Marcel.
Authorities wanted residents nearby to know that the smoke still burning from the fire is not a health concern. Also a traffic note: Highway 182 is expected to be closed outside the plant late into the night while fire suppression efforts continue.
