State regulators approve $2M settlement with Cascade Natural Gas over fatal Toppenish fire | Local

A natural gas company will pay up to $2 million in penalties to the state following a fatal Toppenish fire.

A settlement agreement follows a September 2023 natural gas fire in Toppenish that killed a man and injured another. State Utilities and Transportation Commission officials alleged that Cascade Natural Gas Corp. violated numerous safety regulations.

In April 2025, UTC staff members said there were 66 pipeline safety violations that resulted in the death of 62-year-old Earnest D. Barnett. At that time, the agency recommended nearly $5.7 million in fines against Cascade Natural Gas of Kennewick.

Alleged violations include a failure to notify the commission of the use of portable liquid natural gas equipment; failure to equip an employee with flame-resistant clothing; failure to secure the wheels of the transport truck; and failure to follow proper fire protection and emergency procedures.

The settlement, announced Jan. 29, requires Cascade to pay $1.75 million within 30 days, with the additional $250,000 in penalties suspended provided the company completes the following actions:

• Contract with a third party to conduct an audit of its safety management program and correct any deficiencies found.

• Allow UTC staff and the commission to provide input throughout the audit process.

• Create a new company policy to oversee and manage contractors.

• Notify the commission if liquidated natural gas is used in future operations.

“In support of the settlement, the company states it understands the seriousness of the incident and has taken steps to improve contractor oversight and safety protocols,” the UTC stated in a news release announcing the settlement.

“Cascade fully cooperated with the investigation and is committed to preventing similar incidents in the future,” the news release added.

Background

In the years leading up to the Sept. 22, 2023, incident just north of Toppenish, Cascade Natural Gas acquired many small gas systems throughout Washington, the UTC reported in its April 2025 report on the fire.

Cascade hired Sapphire Energy Solutions to supply and feed liquid natural gas, or LNG, into its system. Sapphire subcontracted with two trucking companies, one of them Southern Pines Trucking, to transport LNG to mobile LNG sites to keep the systems operating during the testing, including one in Toppenish near the intersection of Buena Way and McDonald Road.

Delivery to the Toppenish site began on July 30, 2023, and on Aug. 14 Sapphire began operating the site by pumping LNG into Cascade’s system, UTC staff reported.

On Sept. 22, a driver employed by Southern Pines Trucking arrived at the site with an LNG delivery at 9:39 a.m. About 25 minutes into the transfer process, the driver started the truck and began driving away while it was still connected to the transfer container, the report stated.

This resulted in the LNG transfer hose detaching from the on-site storage container, releasing a vapor cloud that ignited from an unknown source at 10:23 a.m. Although the vapor cloud fire was extinguished quickly, it ignited a fire in the nearby grass, the UTC reported. Two vaporizer trailers and an on-site pickup truck also caught fire.

The driver and Barnett were transported to a Yakima hospital with injuries resulting from the vapor fire, with Barnett taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with second- and third-degree burns on his face and neck, the UTC document stated. He died as a result of his injuries two days later.

Cascade Natural Gas provides natural gas service to more than 222,000 customers in 67 communities across Washington. It is a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group Inc., which is based in Bismarck, N.D.

As part of the Jan. 29 settlement, Cascade may not recover the penalty costs from customers, UTC officials stated.