Five Missing In Oklahoma Gas Well Explosion

Emergency Manager Kevin Enloe said five people are missing in a gas well explosion in Pittsburg County.

The fire is west of Quinton - between that city and Featherston. Volunteers firefighters are on scene

At least three medical helicopters landed at the site, Enloe said. 

The explosion took place a little before 9 a.m. The fire is still burning at 11:25 a.m.

The rig has collapsed, and there are several fires burning at the site.

The rig where the explosion is operated by Red Mountain Operating, also known as Red Mountain Energy. The operating company is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said.

Quinton is located about 110 miles south-southeast of Tulsa.

22 workers were on location at the time of the explosion. 5 of those workers remain missing.

It is unclear at this time how many people were injured.

News reports indicate this is Patterson UTI Rig #219.

Roughneck City will continue to update this in real time as information becomes available

Source: News On 6

UPDATE:

Patterson-UTI confirmed in a statement that some of its employees were missing after the fire. This is the second fire at an Oklahoma oil and gas well site in less than a year. A gas explosion occurred at a Trinity Resources well in the same area in February 2017, injuring a worker.

Boots & Coots, Halliburton’s well control and prevention service, had been called in to control and fire and well, and two people from the state’s energy regulator Oklahoma Corporation Commission were also on the scene.

As of 3pm CST all 5 workers are still unaccounted for

Update 1/23/18

Houston-based Patterson-UTI said in a statement late on Monday the cause of the well explosion remained unclear. It said three of the five missing workers were its employees. Patterson-UTI declined to identify the workers, who were also not identified by local authorities.