Gas Plant Fire Forces Evacuations In Medford

A massive fire started at the ONEOK gas plant in Medford. Folks in the area said they were just a couple of miles away when it happened, and they have never seen anything like it before.

“I call that like the Land of Oz with all the lights and how big it is and I never thought I would see something like that explode,” Brittany Duggan said.

Related Story: Fire At ONEOK Gas Plant Forces Evacuations, Road Closures

Dark clouds of smoke filled the air in Medford Saturday and stretched to neighboring counties.

“The heat that was radiating off of it was so much I started sweating in the vehicle,” Michael Stone said.

“I mean it was huge how much smoke was going in the sky. It was just crazy,” Duggan said.

Several crews from other counties came to Medford to assist in any way they could. To keep folks safe, many people were told to leave their homes.

“Well, they come and knock on our door and told us we had to evacuate. They were going around and saying within a two-mile radius you have to evacuate,” Dianna Leatherman said.

There’s no word yet on what caused this.

ONEOK released a statement:

Earlier today there was an incident at ONEOK’s Medford natural gas liquids fractionation facility.

All ONEOK personnel are accounted for, and we are unaware of any injuries at this time.

We are cooperating with local emergency responders and appreciate their quick response.

Our focus continues to work with emergency responders to extinguish the fire and the safety of the surrounding community and our employees.

ONEOK has made arrangements with some hotels in Enid to put up residents for the night:

Hampton Inn,

Holiday Inn Express & Suites

Springhill Suites

LaQuinta

Baymont

Super 8 in Blackwell is also offering discounted rates to displaced residents.