Magellan Shuts Kansas City Pipeline System After Fire

(Bloomberg) — Magellan Midstream Partners L.P., a U.S. oil products distributor, shut its main pipeline system in Kansas City after a fire erupted in a gasoline storage tank, cutting supplies to consumers in Iowa and Nebraska.

The fire, which started after a lightning strike at 7:30 p.m. local time yesterday, “has almost burned itself out,” said Craig Duke, assistant fire chief for the Kansas City, Kansas, fire department. The pipeline system moves gasoline and diesel from regional refineries to Midwest consumers.


“We have, for safety reasons, discontinued operations of our main pipeline system into and out of our Kansas City terminal,” Bruce Heine, a company spokesman, said by telephone from Baltimore. Magellan shut the pipeline when the fire broke out, he said.

The storage tank held 1.2 million gallons of gasoline at the time of the fire, Duke said. There were no injuries and the company also closed its loading racks as a safety precaution, meaning it can’t take fuel products to trucks for distribution, Heine said. The site has 35 above-ground storage tanks.

The entire site will be closed until an assessment can be completed, Jeff Myers, Magellan’s area supervisor, said in a telephone interview. Magellan is exploring alternatives for supplying sites north of the Kansas City terminal, Heine said.

Bloomberg