RULISON — A fire erupted from a natural gas drilling rig near Rulison early Wednesday. Flames were still burning the rig late into the day.
There were no injuries, and the fire was contained to the wellpad, said Mike Morgan, the Rifle Fire Protection District chief.
Fire crews from the Rifle, the Grand Valley Fire Protection District, along with officials from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the drilling rig fire south of the Colorado River and east of Rulison about 1:30 a.m, Morgan said.
Williams Production RMT is the operator in control of the gas field where the incident occurred. It contracts with Cyclone Drilling to drill there.
Susan Alvillar, a spokeswoman for Williams, said workers at the rig were drilling at about 6,800 feet into a “gas-bearing zone” when the fire erupted.
“When you do that there is a chance that the gas can come up the (well) at a high pressure,” she said. “We believe that is what happened here, but we will have to do a very thorough investigation to make sure that is actually what happened.”
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080827/VALLEYNEWS/808279979/1083&ParentProfile=1074
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There were no injuries, and the fire was contained to the wellpad, said Mike Morgan, the Rifle Fire Protection District chief.
Fire crews from the Rifle, the Grand Valley Fire Protection District, along with officials from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the drilling rig fire south of the Colorado River and east of Rulison about 1:30 a.m, Morgan said.
Williams Production RMT is the operator in control of the gas field where the incident occurred. It contracts with Cyclone Drilling to drill there.
Susan Alvillar, a spokeswoman for Williams, said workers at the rig were drilling at about 6,800 feet into a “gas-bearing zone” when the fire erupted.
“When you do that there is a chance that the gas can come up the (well) at a high pressure,” she said. “We believe that is what happened here, but we will have to do a very thorough investigation to make sure that is actually what happened.”
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080827/VALLEYNEWS/808279979/1083&ParentProfile=1074
Jim<
