MARCH 12, 2015
HOBBS, N.M. (AP)
An explosion at a New Mexico oil field site has killed one
worker and injured another. The Lea
County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) said deputies responded to the explosion in the
area of NM 128 and Orla Road.
Authorities say preliminary information indicates the
workers were loading material into perforated pipe being installed into a
drilling pipe in southern Lea County when the blast occurred Wednesday around
3:30 pm.
The sheriff's office says metal debris from the explosion
struck the victims. The Lea County
Sheriff's Office tells us Rusty Harrison James was killed in the explosion.
Another worker, Tyler Winter, sustained injuries to his chest, torso, and right
leg and was air lifted to Lubbock for treatment.
It's not yet known what caused the blast, and the sheriff's
department says an investigation is underway.
When deputies arrived they found
James Rusty Harrison had died from the explosion. Tyler Winters was air lifted
to Lubbock for treatment.
The oil field site belonged to Mesquite SWD out of Carlsbad,
NM and the company working on the site was Warrior Wireline. Both of the
victims worked for Warrior Wireline. LCSO said the men were Warrior Wireline
employees, not contractors.
Well, static electricity will most definitely provide the
necessary spark for a blast. So, if no
other source of heat was nearby, then the static electricity created when
loading metal material will create the explosion.
Certainly flammable gases are always around
oil fields around and inside the well borehole area; it only needs a spark and oxygen to form the blast that killed this
unlucky worker.
There was no fire following the explosion, leading us to believe that it was accumulated natural gas inside the casing the was ignited from the static electricity of the workers pipe loading activities.