HINTON, IA -
Two people were sent to the hospital after an explosion near Hinton, Iowa.
It happened just before 2:00 Wednesday afternoon in the 3100 block of Marble Ave.
"I turned and looked and saw all these flames and thought maybe a plane had gone down," said Linda Wachter, who lives nearby and called 911 after she heard the explosion Wednesday.
Wachter saw a fireball just outside of her house at around 1:45 Wednesday afternoon.
She called 911 after she saw flames leaping more than 20 feet into the air.
"I knew something was fueling the flames because the roar was really loud and the flames were really high," said Wachter.
The explosion happened after two people hit a Northern Natural Gas gas line while working with a trench digging machine in the middle of a field.
"I believe they were trenching tile or something down into the field and they struck a gas line and caused it to explode," said Plymouth County Sheriff Michael Van Otterloo.
Those two people were taken to a local hospital with burns, but non life threatening injuries.
Luckily there were no buildings nearby, because Wednesday's wind could have easily spread the flames out of control.
The Plymouth Sheriff says the whole situation is a lesson in safety for everyone.
"It is so important to make sure that before you're doing anything in and around a pipeline, or emergency, or electrical lines, that you call and make sure you know where you're going, how deep you are, what you're doing, because it can happen so quickly," said Sheriff Otterloo.
That explosion proves it's important to know what's below.
If you plan on doing any digging you should call 811 a few days ahead of time.
Crews will come out and mark any underground lines, pipes, or cables.
