FEBRUARY 15, 2015
BLAIRSVILLE/DERRY, PENNSYLVANIA:
A contractor for Consol Energy Inc. was burned on his face
and arms Sunday in a fire and explosion while tending to a gas well off Route
22 in Derry on Sunday, Consol and fire officials said.
The victim, whose identity was not released, was flown by an
emergency medical helicopter around 5:40 p.m. to the West Penn Hospital burn
unit in Pittsburgh, Blairsville Fire Chief George Burkley said. The injured worker
was conscious when he was flown from a landing zone that had been set up near
the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 387 at 9626 Route 22 in Derry Township,
Burkley said.
The site was secured Sunday and an investigation is
underway, Consol spokeswoman Kate Donovan said.
The worker had been dispatched to the gas well along Apple
Lane. The explosion and fire was reported at 5:07 p.m. and the fire was
extinguished quickly after the company shutoff natural gas service to the
building, Burkley said. The building was not extensively damaged, the chief
said.
The Blairsville Fire Department in Indiana County serves as
the first responder in that section of Derry Township because its department is
closer than the Derry Township fire departments, a Westmoreland County
Department of Public Safety spokesman said.
Blairsville firefighters were assisted by units from Derry,
New Alexandria and Tunnelton, Burkley said
/________________________________________/
FIRE, EXPLOSION
INJURES WORKER AT NATURAL GAS COMPANY BUILDING IN DERRY/BLAIRSVILLE,
PENNSYLVANIA
BLAIRSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA. (AP) –
FEBRUARY 15, 2015
Authorities say one person was injured in a fire and
explosion at a natural gas company building in western Pennsylvania.
Officials in Westmoreland County say the blaze off route 22
in Derry Township was reported shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday.
Company and fire department officials told the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/17bcBrK
) that a contractor for Consol Energy Inc. was burned on his face and arms.
Chief George Burkley of the Blairsville Fire Department said
the worker was conscious when he was flown from a landing zone to West Penn
Hospital in Pittsburgh.
He said the fire was extinguished quickly after the company
shut off natural gas service to the building, which was not extensively
damaged.
Consol spokeswoman Kate Donovan said the site was secured
and an investigation is being done.
Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com