Oil Well Explosion Leaves One Dead

CREEK COUNTY, OK -- An investigation is underway into what caused a deadly oil field fire. One man is dead and two others are in a burn unit at a Tulsa hospital after an explosion and fire Wednesday morning. It happened on an oilfield lease in a rural area off Highway 66 in Creek County a mile north of Bristow.

Working in the oil field can be a dangerous job and sadly, that was the case Wednesday. News On 6 anchor Craig Day reports the explosion and fire happened so fast, workers had little time to react.

Several workers were at the well site, north of Bristow when the explosion and fire happened. They were pumping cement into a hole when oil and gas came back.

"The oil started flowing out a little more than they expected it to.  It blew out fairly high in the air.  And something happened that ignited it," said Bristow Fire Department Captain David McSpadden.

Firefighters believe a truck backfiring may have ignited the fire, with everything at the site covered in oil, including vehicles and heavy machinery, the fire erupted.

"It was a bad deal.  The explosion was heard two miles away anyway," said McSpadden.

Firefighters say two workers were taken to a Tulsa burn unit, one by helicopter, another by a ground ambulance. A fourth worker has minor burns.

They say a worker who was killed, 34-year-old Christopher Hyde from Stroud, jumped from the derrick as flames shot 60 feet into the air.

Oil from the well is in a relatively small area.  Obviously it will have to be cleaned up.  But the state corporation commission does not believe there will be any lasting environmental problems.

The fire was put out quickly and no evacuations were needed.

Both OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor will investigate the fire. The names of the injured coworkers haven't been released.