Somerset Township’s Gas Well Pad Caught on Fire

A commonly used reserve of natural fuel, gas is found far below the surface. Without drilling of Well Pads, such a useful resource will remain unexplored and unused. For development, self-sustenance and self-sufficiency of resources, well pads are being dug in the rural town of Somerset to provide the residents with cheaper and authentic gas fuel.

However, what may appear so friendly and useful on the surface, can potentially ignite flames of trouble, quite literally.

What happened?

While all around the globe fireworks were being shot to celebrate the New Year, the turn of the year surprised Washington County, more specifically, Somerset Township, with a dark and depressing fire explosion in the later hours of the night. As reported by the residents, a deafening sound was heard at the time of explosion which caused the structure of their properties around to tremble.

According to a report by the WTAE Action 4 News, the head of the Washington fire fighting department stated:

“It was basically contained to just the pumper trucks themselves, so it had nothing to do with the wells.”

With plenty of residents dialing the emergency numbers, the fire fighting department proved to be of immediate assistance and reached the spot within a few minutes of residents reporting the incident.

Somerset Township had been witnessing significant infrastructural development and self-sufficiency programs in recent years. The first step to this development was digging up gas well pads, which, unfortunately, caught fire. With the gas well pads still under construction, the major threat was the lives of the workers at the site. However, the quick response of the firefighters at the scene helped ensure the survival of the 20 workers present on site, safe and sound.

While the incident is still under investigation, officials suspect that, what seemed to be the apparent reason of fire explosion, i.e., the digging of the gas well pad, may not actually be the culprit. Rather, they suspect the fire explosion to be the fault of a demented and defected pumper truck.

The gas well pad was supposed to supply the fuel energy to the entire county. Until such time pipelines were installed, the fuel would have been supplied through the pumper trucks, as is the case in most remote regions. Motor vehicles require fuel to function and this functioning is only possible if the engines installed in these vehicles are connected to the vehicle’s fuel tank through the hydraulic pipeline.

Officials suspect that there was a glitch in the hydraulic pipeline which is responsible for allowing fuel access to the engine. Due to this deformity, a fuel leakage may have been caused overnight, which led to the fire explosion.

Although the fire explosion case is still under investigation and authorized results have not yet been finalized and reported, the firefighter community has remarked a heroic legacy in the Somerset Township by the timely arrival on the reported scene and prompt evacuation which prevented any casualties.