This event brings back memories. In about 1983 or so, my wife and I were driving back to our farmhouse in Iowa City from Davenport over on the Mississippi River. It's about a 65 mile journey. When we got outside Davenport on I-80, my wife and I noticed this brilliant white pillar of light on the western horizon, like a monstrous flashpot explosion but steady and unwavering. This pillar of burning white light got bigger and more brilliant the closer we got to Iowa City, and we finally realized it was within a couple miles of our house. We switched on the car radio and heard the news. A truck had backed into the main valve at the giant underground natural gas storage facility east of the house. The trucked had knocked the valve completely apart, and when the truck pulled off the wreckage, sparks ignited the gas forming the blow torch we had seen, and eventually also heard, from 65 miles away. For the next month, there was an 80 foot high deafening blowtorch coming out of the ground near our place. It was so hot, they couldn't even get near the place to attempt any shut off or capping operation. There was nothing they could do but let the whole thing burn itself out. Evacuation? Nope. It was Iowa.