Oil Well Fire - Extinguishing The Fires

Extinguishing The Fires

Oil well fires are more difficult to extinguish than regular fires due to the enormous fuel supply for the fire. In fighting a fire at a wellhead, typically high explosives, such as dynamite, are used to create a shockwave that pushes the burning fuel and local atmospheric oxygen away from the well. (This is a similar principle to blowing out a candle.) The flame is removed and the fuel can continue to spill out without catching on fire.

After blowing out the fire, the wellhead must be capped to stop the flow of oil. During this time, the fuel and oxygen required to create another inferno are present in copious amounts. At this perilous stage, one small spark (perhaps from a steel or iron tool striking a stone) or other heat source might re-ignite the oil.

To prevent re-ignition, brass or bronze tools, which do not strike sparks, or paraffin wax-coated tools are used during the capping process. Meticulous care is used to avoid heat and sparks, or any other ignition source. Re-ignition at the wellhead may take the form of an extremely powerful explosion, possibly even worse than the original blowout.

With recent advances in technology as well as environmental concerns, many wells today are capped while they burn. High-powered water sprays and Purple K dry chemical (a potassium bicarbonate mixture) are used to extinguish the fire.

There are several techniques used to put out oil well fires, which vary by resources available and the characteristics of the fire itself.

In essence the trade was started by Myron M. Kinley, who dominated the field in the early years. His lieutenant, Red Adair, went on to become the most famous of oil well firefighters.

Techniques include:

• Dousing with copious amounts of water
• Raising the plume - placing a metal casing 30 to 40 feet high over the well head (thus raising the flame above the ground). Liquid nitrogen or water is then forced in at the bottom to reduce the oxygen supply and put out the fire.
• Drill relief wells into the producing zone to redirect some of the oil and make the fire smaller. (However, most relief wells are used to pump heavy mud and cement deep into the wild well.) The first relief wells were drilled in Texas in the mid 1930s.
• Using a gas turbine to blast a fine mist at the fire. Water is injected into the compressor section of the turbine in large quantities. (This does not harm the turbine, and in fact this technique is also used for cleaning turbines.)
• Using dynamite to 'blow out' the fire by forcing the burning fuel and oxygen away from the fuel source. This was one of the earliest effective methods and is still widely used. The first use was by Myron Kinley's father in California in 1913
• Dry Chemical (mainly Purple K) can be used on small well fires.
• In the 1930s mechanical jaws were developed to clamp off the pipe below the fire, but they are seldom used today. The design became the basis for a safety device used on offshore wells.

Special vehicles called "Athey wagons" as well as the typical bulldozer protected by corrugated steel sheeting are normally used in the process.