Two-day fire erupts during deep drilling-Texas fire specialist called to extinguish blaze

By Duane Sherrill

Firemen sprayed water around the clock at the site of an erupting gas pocket off James Street which exploded Monday morning as crews were drilling for a geothermal heating system at a house construction site. A member of the drill crew suffered burns.

A blaze which erupted out of the ground when a pocket of natural gas was hit below a James Street construction site Monday was extinguished by a special team brought in from Texas after the fire burned around the clock. The fire occurred as workers were drilling for a geothermal heating system, with one drill operator receiving minor injuries.

Firemen were on the scene for over 24 hours as the sometimes towering plume of flame soared as far as 40 feet in the air only a few yards behind a construction site where a pair of large houses were being built. The fire burned from Monday morning until just after noon Tuesday.

According to fire officials, the unusual fire began as drill operators from Samuel Mills and Sons Drillers out of Pikeville were drilling in an area located between what will be the future houses of the families of Todd Wilmore and Eric Golden. The drill operators were trying to tap underground water for the installation of geothermal heating for one of the residences and had drilled down about 280 feet when they hit a pocket of natural gas.

While members of the crew say hitting natural gas patches are an occupational hazard, the ignition of the escaping gas was actually due to a freak accident. According to persons on the scene, as the truck hauling the Schramm drilling rig was being moved, the truck backfired with the spark igniting the gas. The resulting explosion and eruption of flames burned drill operator Sammy Freeman of Pikeville, leaving him with non-critical but painful burns to his arms. He was examined at the scene by paramedics but refused transport to the hospital at that time, electing to stay at the scene of the fire with his drilling crew.

After the initial blast, flames poured into the air nearly 40 feet high until the arrival of the McMinnville Fire Department. It was later learned the fact the rig was still in the ground created back pressure in the drill hole causing the fires to reach higher in the air.

Although able to keep the fire at a manageable height by constant spraying of water, firemen soon realized they would not be able to extinguish the blaze.

‘It just wouldn’t have been possible for us to permanently put it out so our biggest concern became to prevent damage to the nearby houses,’ said McMinnville Fire Chief Kevin Lawrence, noting there was some cracks of the windows in the nearest residence apparently due to the initial blast. ‘We stayed here for the better part of two days keeping water on the well and on the nearby house.’

Given the fact no one knew how big the underground gas pocket was or how long it would burn uncapped, Wild Wells out of Houston, a group which specializes in capping oil and gas well fires, was called in Tuesday morning. In the meantime, the drill was cut off above the ground so the truck which had been sitting in the fire for over 12 hours could be moved off the burning well.

Once the capping unit arrived, the fire itself was extinguished and water pumped into the well to help stabilize the escaping gas. While extinguished for the time being, steps were being taken late Tuesday afternoon to permanently address the problem and cap the well. The price tag for the entire operation is still being calculated.