Cover Photo: North Central and Central WV Working Fires
Ten Local Fire Departments Extinguish Fire on Noble Energy’s Shirley 1 Pad
From an Article by Fred Connors, Wheeling Intelligencer, October 16, 2014
Alma, WV – Fire departments from four counties responded to a gas well pad fire Wednesday on WV Route 18 near Centerville.
Tyler County EMA Director Tom Cooper said today, Tyler County dispatch received a cell phone call at 10:10 p.m. Wednesday in which the caller reported a well pad fire near the WV Division of Highways facility on WV Route 18.
“The caller said all workers were safely evacuated from the pad and then we lost the phone connection,” he said. “Tyler County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and verified that flames could be seen at the top of the hill.”
Cooper said (15) fire department (trucks) from Tyler, Wetzel, Pleasants and Doddridge counties responded. They extinguished the flames by 2 a.m. and no injuries were reported.
“The well site turned out to be Shirley One owned by Noble Energy,” he said. ”Any estimate of damage will have to come from Noble Energy.” The site is one of two on WV Route 18 (a few miles south of Centerville).
Cooper said the call presented a particular problem for the Shirley Volunteer Fire Department. “As they were leaving the site, they broke an axle on the steep gravel road and had to call for a wrecker,” he said.
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Notes:
1. From the Charleston Gazette: The company told state officials that a piece of equipment caught fire during “flowback operations,” when liquids flow back to the surface after the hydraulic fracturing of a well.
2. The fire response activity was monitored on the “North Central and Central WV Working Fires” community page on Facebook. The responding fire companies were Alma, Greenwood, McCllelan, Middlebourne, Paden City, Pennsboro, Shirley, Sistersville, St. Marys, and West Union. Ellenboro was on standby.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Does someone have figures on explosions from well pads and pipelines in the last ten years or so?
What is the percentage of explosions and fires from horizontal drilling as compared to vertical?
It seems to me that someone somewhere would see the errors in the ways of the gas and coal industries in the Appalachian region. Surely the people that live with these nightmares aren’t the only ones who see what these industries are doing..?…
Its terrible! The people of the Appalachian region suffer horribly because of these industry’s free ticket to pollute and pillage our beautiful West Virginia. Its terrible to see for the ones that live and die with it. Especially knowing for many years that it was coming.. literally watching as the wagons were surrounded.
Our forefathers have tended to these lands only to see our generation kill it. I have fought mountaintop removal coal mining for nearly 20 years, most of which was volunteer work. I have witnessed first hand what regulation in the state of WV looks like and basically there is NONE and what is on the books doesn’t get enforced. OUR resources and OUR people have been sold off to the highest bidders, being the coal and gas companies.
The attack on our people, air, land and water has “leaders” if you will. These “leaders” are our industry owned politicians. Its time to end the BUSINESS AS USUAL in WV. We are at a crossroads and its now or never. Once these areas are gone … there is no getting them back. Polluting is easy … UN-polluting (reversing the damages) is nearly impossible.
People’s health, well being and quality of life will come first ONLY when they put themselves first at the voting booths. Mountaintop removal pollution has been shown to promote LUNG CANCER and these companies are still doing it. WHEN we develop the political will to pass the ACHE Act (www.acheact.org) we can beat this corrupt system by putting people’s health first!
Its time to clean the slate in WV. Its time to realize that none of our citizenry has rights anymore! Industry now has those rights. OUR resources have been negotiated and we DO NOT and DID NOT HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE.
I have heard ALL of our politicians talk about how important coal and gas are to West Virginian’s economy. People’s ability to live here is real important to the economy too, isn’t it? I recently heard Nick Rahall say that “Coal was the most important resource in our state” when in reality coal is what polluted 300,000 people’s water in January 2014. Thanks to COAL we didn’t have a safe faucet, stream or spring to drink from!
I recently read where WV is wanting to allow FRACKING UNDER the OHIO RIVER. First… are they trying to get WV sued?!? This is millions of peoples drinking water! Can someone tell me how this was ever conceived as a good idea?
The state of WV has been generational family ran by the same families who have always stuck the screws to our people to prop up their buddies. It’s sad to see what we have allowed to happen to our state but its even more sad to see that we continue to turn our heads while it continues to happen again and again.
It just seems to me that these catastrophic things keep happening and everyone keeps forgetting about them while people all around them die of the health implications of these out of control industries.
No wonder people in DC thinks we all “stupid hillbillies.” The ones in office are the ones that represent the will of our people supposedly. I don’t think anyone in Appalachia wants anyone to suffer and die to flip on the lights. The problem here is people are suffering and dying to produce electricity EVERYDAY and no one wants to talk about it.
WAKE UP WEST VIRGINIANS BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.
Great question, A. P. Mama!!