Missouri gas pipeline ruptures, explodes

HOUSTONIA, Mo. - A natural gas pipeline has ruptured in a rural area in western Missouri, causing an explosion and fire. 

Nearby residents were evacuated, and seven buildings on a nearby farm caught fire and were destroyed, reports CBS affiliate KCTV.

No injuries have been reported.

The Pettis County Sheriff's Department said the pipeline, owned by Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co., ruptured late Thursday outside Houstonia, about 75 miles east of Kansas City.

The sheriff's department said fewer than a dozen residents within three miles of the explosion were evacuated but were allowed back into their homes before dawn.

Sheriff Kevin Bond said he heard the explosion about 12 miles away. "When I looked out, I could see the large fireball," he told KCTV.

Daylight showed that the explosion left a smoldering moon-like crater. It took more than two hours to extinguish the blaze.

Panhandle Energy spokeswoman Vicki Anderson Granado said in a statement no injuries were reported and the company has rerouted gas from the area so deliveries wouldn't be affected.

"We are working with the local emergency responders to make sure the needs of any of those who were impacted are taken care of," the statement said. Granado said it was unclear how long the investigation into what caused the rupture would take.

KCTV reports Panhandle experienced a similar explosion in 2008 about 20 miles away, in Cooper County. That blast caused about $1 million in damage.