A flash fire at a well site sent flames shooting into the air northwest of Rimbey Wednesday.
The fire was sparked just after noon at a site operated by Calgary-based Bonavista Energy Trust about six km northwest of the town.
“There was construction work and well testing going on at that site. It appears that some of the workers ignited some vapours and there was a fire inside one of the open tanks,” said Harold Gold, a regulatory and compliance technologist with Bonavista.
“There were no injuries associated with the incident.”
The natural gas vapours did not contain hydrogen sulphide and there was no danger to the public or workers on site.
“There’s no environmental (danger) or threat to health or anything like that with it,” said Gold. No evacuations were necessary.
“We notified the surrounding residents of the situation there but because it’s not a sour gas situation there’s no further risk to anybody in the area.”
Damage was contained to the 250-barrel tank, which was provided by the company doing work at the site.
“Bonavista activated its emergency response plan immediately after the incident occurred,” he said. “All government agencies were notified as well as residences in the area.
“And while the fire is still ongoing, the situation is controlled and contained and we’ll get that fire was out as quick as we can without endangering anyone’s safety,” he said about 4:30 p.m.
An oilfield firefighting unit from HSE Integrated was also heading out to the scene to deal with incident.
Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board spokesman Davis Sheremata said they were notified of the incident and are continuing to monitor the situation.
“It’s not believed there’s any risk of explosion and the tank is being vented as we speak.”
Workplace Health and Safety has also been notified.