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Google Street View of Kleen Energy Plant on River Road east of Middletown, CT and just west of Dart Island State Park.

UPDATE SUNDAY FEBRUARY 07 2010 5:40 PM ET:
No threat in the atmosphere and no threat of another explosion. Terrorism has been ruled out.
Five killed, 12 injured from ‘massive explosion’ that occurred 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday. At the time of press conference it is unknown how many people are missing. A fire that broke out after the explosion is under control. A search and rescue operation is underway.

It felt like an earthquake.
I thought a car crashed into my house.
There was a huge orange flame between the two stacks at the power plant.

– Nearby witness accounts

Middletown Connecticut Fire/Rescue personnel and mutual aid fire departments (up to 100 units) responded about 11:30 a.m. Sunday to the Kleen Power Plant in Middletown, Connecticut. Medical evacuation helicopters have also been called to the scene. The power plant is just east of the city of Middletown on River Road. The power plant, which was reported offline to the electric grid, suffered a ‘massive explosion.’ The gas-fired power plant is supplied by a major natural gas line.

Search and rescue dogs are on the scene to search in rubble for victims. About 50 construction workers were reported to be onsite during the Sunday disaster.

Smoke was seen rising into clear, blue skies.

The explosion was felt as far as 15 miles from the blast site. Some homes near the power plant are reported damaged.

Kleen Energy Power Plant is a 620-megawatt gas-fired electric power generation facility. A blowdown procedure was underway with gas being purged off a line, according to an early account of what was happening at the plant immediately before the explosion.

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According to O&G Industries website, the Kleen Energy Power Plant is listed as ‘In Progress’ construction project managed by O&G Industries. O&G Industries is a privately-owned company headquartered in Torrington, Connecticut that was founded in 1923 and grown to become one of the largest diversified construction materials and services companies in the Northeast United States The O&G company website describes the Kleen Energy System Gas-Fired Energy Plant as a 620 MW Combined Cycle Electric Generating Facility that is located in Middletown, Connecticut. O&G is overseeing all local, state, and federal permitting, engineering, and construction of this project. Responsibilities include the overview of all environmental site engineering for air, noise, water and electrical interconnect; the design basis configuration for all mechanical, electrical, and civil/structural engineering; the construction execution plan; cost estimate; and schedule. The project consists of two Siemens SGT6-5000F dual fuel combustion turbines, one high-pressure Siemens SST-5000 steam turbine, heat recovery steam generators, cooling towers, DCS instrument and control system, and a 345 kV gas-insulated switchyard with step-up transformers.

SOURCE:
O&G INDUSTRIES, INC. Kleen Energy Power Generation Facility

MORE INFO …
MIddletown Press 4:31 PM ET Two dead, several injured in power plant explosion

McDonough County answers 9-1-1 call from the Farm King farm supply store at 1620 East Jackson Street in Macomb, Illinois.

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Police in Macomb, Illinois, released the 911 audio from the farm supply shooting there Wednesday (February 3, 2010).
Store Manager Jeff Nimrick is heard frantically describing a man in the store loading a gun in the sporting goods section before actual shots are fired. Automatic gunfire is also heard in the background during the 9-1-1 call. The 9-1-1 operator tells Jeff Nimrick that the police have arrived and have assembled ‘a huge amount of police officers.’

Jonathan Labbe, 19, entered the Farm King Store and demanded ammunition. Jonathan Labbe fired 23 rounds at officers using an automatic rifle and then killed himself. Several people were inside the store at the time.

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Almost one year ago, at approximately 10:30 a.m. February 28, 2009, police officers were dispatched to the Change of Pace, 301 N. Campbell St., responding to a report of an IED (improvised explosive device) that was located outside the business. Members of the Secretary of State Police Bomb Squad from Springfield (IL) used a robotic bomb recovery unit to secure the explosive device.

Miami-Dade police responded to report of a panel down on the ground off of an airplane in a parking lot of Miami International Mall near a Dillards Store. The panel apparently fell off an airplane on approach to Miami International Airport. The airplane that lost the panel was an Atlas Cargo Boeing 747 that was flying to Miami, Florida from Chile. The cargo plane was likely on approach to Runway 9 at Miami International Airport.

The airplane panel, about the length of an automobile, fell in the Dillards parking lot in the 1400 block of Northwest 107th Avenue. No people or vehicles were hit.

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Raw video of a small twin engine plane that lands safely in Miami-Dade County with the nose gear collapsing upon landing.

The pilot of a small engine twin-engine airplane was forced to make an emergency landing in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on Friday when the nose landing gear would not deploy fully. The pilot and his passenger, both members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, landed safely.

Arlington Heights police and firefighter/paramedics responded about 2:00 p.m. Thursday to an auto accident with injuries at Thomas Avenue and Rand Road in Arlington Heights near Prospect Heights. Arlington Heights Fire Department sent two rescue ambulances to the scene.

Arlington Heights police officers and firefighter/paramedics responded to a hit-and-run accident at Palatine Road and Kennicott about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. An American Taxi either fled the scene westbound until it broke down, or continued for some unknown reason after it crashed with a black Chevy Cobalt. Police found the Lincoln Mercury “American Taxi” a few hundred feet west of the intersection of Palatine and Kennicott Road. The taxi driver was injured. Unknown on the injury status of the Cobalt driver.

The crash was called in as a hit-and-run, but the hit-and-run charge has not been confirmed.