Show Five ive Day Gusher Oil Well Fire Extinguished O cit at Altamont t g ct 1 J I 1 l I 1 11 t 1 P i.- i. t i l 2 r h la lashe 7 1 she ti tI r r rl d dI I i pl 1 4 i 1 Jt It a I i i. 10 tJ 1 tI Ie Ier i r i 1 ii J r i t j j It q r 1 I i f J. J 11 i r rz 1 k kH H MIRY wY r ONCE AG AGAIN IN FIRE SHIELDS are lined up ready to hold the water nozzles that spray Water on workmen and the white hot rig structure of the Ute life Tribe oil well The well was nearly ready to go on production when the out blow-out and fire occurred Tanks on the right were in place to receive the crude oil for storage and shipment A mud pumping operation forcing drilling mud down the burning drill stem slept of a Altamont oil 1 well Tuesday afternoon finally extinguished a roaring inferno that has been burning since Friday Friday Fri day morning SPECIAL OIL well firefighters from the Red tied Adair Co of Houston Texas arrived arrived ar ar- ar rived at the scene Sunday and by pumpIng pump pump- Ing huge volumes of water on and around workers they were able to Stab a stinger on the drill pipe and make it stay until the mud formed a block stopping the oil and gas blowing out of the well The Altamont well is designated Ute the Tribe No 1 Shell-Gulf Shell Oil King Silver Sabine SlIver Sabinc Exploration Inc It is operated by Shell Oil Co and is on Ute Tribe allocated land owned by Billy Dilly Chapoose Chapoose Cha Cha- a year old Ute Indian who lives in a Roosevelt rest home Chapoose leases the land to Bob Fieldsted Roose Roose- velt volt The land is located one half mile east of the community of Altamont THE OIL WELL blaze erupted about 7 am a.m. Friday after hitting the depth and gushing out oil and gas since about 9 pm p.m. Thursday Flowing at a rate of about 1000 barrels barrels bar bar- a aday day the p paraffin content oil congealed congealed congealed con con- in spots three to four feet deep around the well during the night WHEN THE fire broke out the accumulated accumulated ac ac- ac cumulated oil caught fire and the intense heat crumpled rumpled the drilling rig in a straight down fashion in about 12 minutes The 3 inch drill pipe was still in the hole preventing the out blow prevent prevent- or from shutting off the pressure explained explained ex John Richards spokesman for Shell Oil Co The Fridays Friday's fire was very similar to the fire on Shells Shell's Evans Evan well five miles to the west of he Ute well wel on September Sep 7 which burned for five and one one- half days before It was extinguished AN gallon reservoir was constructed con con- to hold Irrigation canal water as a supply for the special high volume pumps shipped In from Houston Water was pumped into a system of spraying to act as a coolant for lor workmen to remove rig wreckage and also apply the special equipment on the drill stem Jimmy Adair son of Red Adair arrived arrived arrived ar ar- ar- ar rived at the welt well Sunday along with four truckloads of special firefighting equip equip- ment Young Adair began making preparations preparations pre pre- Sunday for the stabbing operation operation oper oper- atlon of controlling the fire NO INJURIES were received as no one was around the rig when an explosion In the derrick set the well off The giant geyser flame towered over feet high with a roar that shook the ground for miles around when it first ignited Damages and cost coat of extinguishing the second Altamont oil field fire will run into the millions Two smaller fires in oil sumps of 01 other Altamont wells have been reported been reported since the Evans well fire two months ago The high pressure gaseous content of the Altamont oil wells and oil crude lends itself to a very very volatile situation for oil production FLAMING GORGE VISITOR INFORMATION The monthly statistical report of the estimated number cf of people traveling through Flaming Gorge National Recreation Recreation Recreation Area was released this week The total includes for the month of October bringing the c cumulative total for the year to The incoming traffic breakdown by main access routes includes Wyoming so south th from Green River 32 percent Wyoming south from Rock Springs 21 percent Utah east from Mountain View 13 percent and Utah north from Vernal 34 percent |