SPACE HEATER
FOCUS OF THE DEADLY OIL RIG EXPLOSION INQUIRY.
HOWEVER, PLACING A HEAT SOURCE NEXT TO AN OIL WELL IS RECKLESS OR
GROSSLY NEGLIGENT.
January 11th, 2015
Victims of an oil rig explosion in Coal County told initial responders a space heater used to keep workers warm on the rig floor was the probable cause of the blast that killed three.
The Dec. 18 explosion near Coalgate killed Mark Pittman Jr., Gary Keenan and Kelsey Bellah. Two others were seriously injured.
The McAlester News-Capital, in the aftermath of the tragedy, filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Coal County Sheriff’s Office seeking initial incident reports from the explosion. The sheriff’s office provided the newspaper with a two-page narrative written by Coal County investigator Jared Bailey in which Bailey detailed initial suspicions from victims and witnesses the space heater caused the blast.
Bailey wrote in the document that Coal County Deputy Jerry Ward responded to the scene at midnight and found a chaotic, horrifying scene. One witness told of a man on fire from “head to toe.” Other victims were scattered around the rig.
Ward encountered a gravely injured Pittman on the ground. A witness named Greg England asked Pittman what caused the blast.
“We had the heater on on the floor,” Pittman responded to Ward and England.
Danny Hoover, a directional driller for Dan D Drilling, of Lamont, which owns rig, also was asked by Bailey days later what started the fire. Hoover was on the rig floor and also pointed to the space heater as a possible cause.
“I asked Daniel Hoover if he knew what started the fire, and Daniel Hoover stated at approximately 21:40 hours he was on the rig floor and the heater was going,” Bailey wrote. “Daniel Hoover stated the heater was going because (another driller) ... had forgotten his overalls and was cold.”
State fire marshals made a point of documenting the presence of the space heater at the scene, according to the reports. At 1:45 a.m., State Fire Marshals Trenton Griffin and James Simmons arrived and photographed the evidence.
Source:Enid News