Texas Tech Campus Closed After Gas Leak Explodes Manholes

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Texas Tech University logo over a background of flames

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Portions of the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock were shut down yesterday and remain closed this morning. This comes after reports of a gas leak led to multiple manhole covers exploding and neon green flames erupted from the sewers.

Spring break for students in Lubbock begins this Friday. Imagine for a second that you are a sleep-deprived Texas Tech student cramming for midterms before Spring Break and you’re walking across campus, catch a whiff of a strange odor, and suddenly manhole covers explode with bright green flames erupting like something out of a pyrotechnics display.

The university was quick to shut down portions of the campus, including cutting power to various areas, beginning at approximately 7:30 PM on Wednesday evening. Or rather, that’s when Texas Tech first announced power was cut off and they were “evacuating the Engineering Key due to a gas odor” aka a potential gas leak…

Then the videos emerged!

On Facebook, Texas Tech University announced “This is an emergency notification from the Texas Tech PD. An explosion at a manhole has affected multiple locations on the Texas Tech campus, causing widespread power outages to both TTU and TTUHSC. The Engineering Key has been evacuated. We ask that the public avoid campus.”

As all of this was going on the videos of fires were going viral on X (née Twitter):

Shortly after the university’s announcement, Lubbock Fire Rescue gave a more in-depth announcement on Facebook. They wrote:

LUBBOCK FIRE RESCUE RESPONDS TO FIRES COMING FROM MANHOLES ON TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

At around 7:00 p.m., Lubbock Fire Rescue (LFR) responded to the 900 block of Boston Avenue for a possible gas leak. Engine 4 arrived first on scene and found multiple manhole covers with active fire and smoke issuing from them. Engine 4 quickly requested additional units to help to mitigate the rapidly escalating scene, and a second alarm was called by Battalion 1 for manpower. This remains a very active scene as crews continue to assist Texas Tech University in mitigating this emergency. No injuries have been reported.

At this time, evacuations are isolated to certain areas on campus. There is no need to evacuate the area if you are not on the campus.

As of 9:50 AM this morning, the university announced power had been restored to some areas but portions of the campus remain closed today and tomorrow (Friday, March 14th). And again, there are still countless videos flying aroun dsocial media of the Texas Tech gas leak fires:

Hopefully, everyone in Lubbock is being safe. At this point, we don’t have much information about the Texas Tech gas leak, what caused it, and if the leak has been sealed off.


Content shared from brobible.com.

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