GAS WELL FIRE!
FIRE REPORTS
It’s been several months now, but a gas well fire that became one of the largest mutual-aid responses in Western New York history before it was extinguished 28 hours later, will be remembered for a long time.
The S.K. lack Drilling Company was drilling the well at 1800 feet when it struck a premature high pressure gas and oil pocket. The escaping gas was ignited by an unknown source on the drilling rig or by a bulldozer operating nearby. The operator of the bulldozer was blown 80 feet off the dozer by the explosion and was burned over 80 percent of his body.
The location of the fire was near the fire district line between Dayton and Gowanda. Both volunteer departments responded, and the Gowanda second assistant chief took command when he determined the fire was in his district. There were no exposure dangers because the well was in the middle of a cornfield. Ground fires were burning but were extinguished by first-arriving pumper crews. Mutual aid from departments in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie Counties was immediately requested.
—photos by the author.
A 1 1/2-mile relay using 14 pumpers was set up to provide an adequate water supply to the scene. In addition to this relay, 61 tankers including four 4000-gallon milk tank trucks were used to supply portable tanks for other pumpers at the well site. Deluge sets were placed around the well in an effort to keep the rig structure cool so it wouldn’t collapse until a plan could be made to extinguish the fire. Rigs and rig fires are uncommon in this area.
Several unsuccessful attempts to extinguish the fire were made during the morning using liquid nitrogen, foam and AFFF.
As the crew moved in again at 3 p.m., liquid nitrogen was used to cool the steel structure (see photo). The deluge streams were shut down and foam was applied to the rig as AFFF was being applied to the runoff oil pit area. Two combination AFFF and Purple-K lines were used at the well head along with four hand lines from 450-pound wheeled Purple-K extinguishers and four hand lines from 150-pound Purplied to make sure the structure was cool so it would not reignite the escaping gas. After the fire was extinguished, the deluge streams were put back in operation to cool the drilling rig. It took well operators 45 minutes to cap the well.
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Ten fire fighters were injured during the final attack and were transported to local hospitals by ambulances. Over 800 fire fighters from 67 volunteer, industrial and airport fire departments were on the scene over the 28-hour period. During the final attack, an EMS command center was set up and a rapid response rescue team was organized to quickly remove any injured fire fighters from the hazard area. Seventeen ambulances and one helicopter ambulance were on hand to transport the injured fire fighters.
Lessons learned
- Because of the magnitude and duration of the fire, physical exhaustion of personnel became a problem. Regular replacements need to be planned.
- Remote and rural areas can complicate any emergency situation, and this too should be considered in any prefire plan. Food for the fire fighters and fuel for the apparatus were problems.
- A prefire plan may cover types of equipment to respond, but the plan should also be aware of possible limited access roads and unpaved areas, which are an extra problem when water creates mud.
- Specialized equipment and chemicals were needed for fighting this type of fire. Planning and training must take this into account.
- Tankers need large discharges to decrease dump times.
- Mutual-aid companies need to be able to communicate better in a complex incident like this one. None of the three counties involved operates on the same radio frequency.
Damage was estimated at over $1 million.
In June of this year, the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York State donated $38,000 to the three county fire coordinators to purchase fire fighting equipment and supplies for use in well fires. This equipment will be housed at the Chautauqua County Airport and be available to any of the three counties on a mutual-aid basis.
