Two dead, two injured in pipeline explosion

DIXON – Two farmers are dead and two injured, one critically, after they ruptured a natural gas pipeline while laying field tile northeast of Dixon around 9 this morning.

The names of the four are being withheld until all immediate family members are notified, Lee County Sheriff John Simonton said at a news conference this afternoon.

The pipe was hit when the tractor pulling the tiling plow became stuck, and a second tractor, attempting to free the first, lost traction and hit the 20-inch pipeline, causing the explosion and the resulting fireball.

The two men died at the scene; the other two were taken by nearby residents to KSB Hospital then transferred to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, where one is in critical condition, and the other is in what Simonton characterized as stable condition.

The field, northeast of the intersection of state Route 38 and Nachusa Road, midway between Dixon and Franklin Grove, belongs to M&R Farms, which is owned by Rory Miller. Mark and Gloria Nusbaum have been partners in M&R since 1996.

The fire was out by about 1:15 p.m., after representatives from Kinder Morgan, which owns the pipeline with its subsidiary, Geneseo-based Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America, turned off the gas, Dixon City Fire Chief Tim Shipman said.

Route 38 from Robbins to Nachusa Road was closed until about 3:30 p.m.

Kinder Morgan still was on scene late this afternoon and will begin making repairs to the cross country transmission line after the National Transportation Safety Board signs off, said Dee Bennett, a company representative.

The state Fire Marshall's Office, State Police and the Sheriff's Department are investigating.