Bushland Explosion: One Year Later - KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports

Kristen Guilfoos
NewsChannel 10

Bushland, Texas - Friday marks the one year anniversary of the Bushland gas pipeline explosion. 

NewsChannel 10's Kristen Guilfoos was there the night it happened last November and she went back Friday to speak with neighbors who saw it all unfold.

Watching a fireball 700 feet tall shoot into the sky in your backyard in the middle of the night is not something that's easily forgettable.

The residents in the Prairie West neighborhood we spoke with today say they're not sure they'll ever be able to get the pictures out of their mind, and some still have nightmares, even one year later.

Bushland resident Heather Fuentes saw everything unfold in her backyard. She says "The hardest part in the world was to leave and not know what we would find when we came back because those flames were just so intense. And we stood for quite a while at the high school and just watched. "

The Fuentes family also watched their neighbors and good friend's house incinerate almost instantly... The Torres family lawyer says they suffered serious physical and psychological damage when the pipeline exploded right next to their house.

Their 16-year-old daughter was burned so badly she will need at least 5 to 10 more surgeries, including skin grafts on her face.

El Paso Natural Gas has completely taken out the old pipeline and put it in a new one... Much farther away from houses. It is flowing at a reduced rate though... The feds are mandating it stay that way until they figure out what caused the massive blast.