Investigators from the Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. are expected to be at the intersection of Massard and Zero streets to determine the cause of a natural gas fire that broke out last night.
The fire was first reported to Fort Smith dispatchers shortly after 9:00 Wednesday evening. The Fort Smith fire chief said a high pressure transmission line carrying natural gas ruptured and resulted in the fire. The line was owned by Arkansas Oklahoma Gas and crews were battling flames until the company could shut it down.
Crews worked about four hours to suppress the flames while they were waiting for the gas company to turn the gas off.
Shawn Fuller, incident commander and fire battalion chief in Fort Smith, said their main focus was protecting nearby buildings and nearby transmission lines. Fuller said there were five other transmission lines, owned by five other gas companies, that needed protection from the flames.