Show I Oil Well Blaze Cal Causes s S SHeavy Heavy Equipment Damage I A roaring fire Friday at the Inc MOM well No 2 resulted In a reported damage to the derrick and equipment equipment equipment equip equip- ment and sent a pall of smoke visible in Moab high into the air over the well site 24 miles down the Colorado river from Moab Darrel Darrei Reardon manager of the Moab office of stated Wednesday that the derrick draw works and tanks were destroyed by the fire that fortunately In Injured In none of the man five crew working on t the e rig The cause of the tIre fire was wu suspected suspected suspected sus sus- to be from a spark caused caused caus caus- ed by fay a wrench being used on equipment officials said The well was blowing out at the time an ant awl i ithe the spark apparently Ignited the oil The entire base of the structure ture was engulfed to in n flames seconds sec sea later and workers evacuated evacuate the site due to danger from butane butane bu bu- tane lane tanks and 1000 barrel barre oil tanks Operator Monte Mason who notified notified no no- tilled the Moab office of ot the fire tire said that flames were raising feet in the air and that the im tin- U a mediate area around the well had been evacuated Fortunately the wind blew the flames names away from the tanks and other facilities The fire was extinguished at 4 a a. a m. m Saturday after burning for nine hours The latest report is that the well can possibly be saved Officials reported that at the time of the blaze the well wen Will was snaking making oil Workmen were attempting attempting at at- tempting to treat and perforate the well welt and had removed the packer and well cap under unde the direction of Mr Mason A new packer was to be Installed to insure Insure insure In in- sure against leakage during tests planned planed for this week The packer and well wen cap ap that had been removed were responsible sible sAble for the blaze being extin extIn- They had been raised over the well when the fire tIre broke out During the rooming morning hours of ot Saturday supports of the suspended well cap gave way and the cap and packer fell teU on the well effectively capping It U and extinguishing the fire tire Due to the Inaccessibility of the well no attempt could be made to combat the fire The road down the river has been closed since the high waters waterson on the Colorado river In June A report Wednesday said that the upper road up Shafer Trail Tran was closed by the early week storms Officials said Wednesday that rebuilding would start Immediately Immediate Immediate- Jy ly following the cleaning up of the burned area around the well There was no Insurance on the well It t was iwas was reported The blaze bue created a ripple of excitement In Moab due to lo the fact that the fire was first reported reported reported re re- ported on the Big Flat and the atomic like Uke cloud that hung over the fire tire was visible from here |