Five workers were missing after a fiery explosion on Monday at an oil and gas drilling site in eastern Oklahoma, officials said.



The fire had been fed by gas from a well being drilled for Red Mountain Energy by Patterson-UTI Energy Inc, preventing a full search of the scene throughout the day, but was later extinguished, the Pittsburg County Emergency Management Department (PCEMD) said in a statement.

Aerial video shows fires burning out of control 1:36



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.



"Well control experts and emergency responders are on site and we will conduct a thorough investigation when the incident is fully contained," Patterson-UTI chief executive Andy Hendricks said in a statement. 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 alsonot identified by local authorities."Well control experts and emergency responders are on site and we will conduct a thorough investigation when the incident is fully contained," Patterson-UTI chief executive Andy Hendricks said in a statement.

1 injured

PCEMD director Kevin Enloe said one of the 22 workers at the site when the explosion occurred was treated for injuries and 16 others were uninjured.



The blast occurred at around 9 a.m. CT near Quinton, Okla., about 235 km from Oklahoma City.

Kevin Enloe, director of Pittsburg County Emergency Management, speaks during a news conference to update details on a drilling rig explosion in Pittsburg County, Okla., on Thursday. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World/Associated Press)

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which investigates fatal workplace accidents, was closed on

Monday because of the federal government shutdown.



Boots & Coots, Halliburton's well control and prevention service, was called in to put out the fire. Staff from the

state's energy regulator, Oklahoma Corporation Commission, were also on the scene, officials said.

Series of accidents

The explosion is the latest in a series of accidents at oil and gas fields in the state. A gas explosion occurred at a

Trinity Resources well in the same area in February 2017, injuring a worker.



More recently, a 40-year-old Oklahoma man was killed in a backhoe accident this month at an oilfield near Ninnekah. A

worker was killed last month when equipment collapsed at a site near Preston, and a 36-year-old man was killed in November when a fitting failed during fracking at a well near Watonga, according to media reports.

Smoke billows from the site of the gas well fire near Quinton early Monday. (Kevin Harvison/McAlester News-Capital/Associated Press)

Accidents during oil and gas drilling claim about 100 lives a year in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control (CDC). Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CDC reported 1,189 workers were killed in the 11 years ended 2013, a period of intensive drilling.



Two-thirds of the fatalities involved transportation or contact with objects or equipment, the CDC found. More than 50

percent involved employees of oilfield service companies.</s>Deputies in Pittsburg County confirm they are working an explosion near Quinton, Oklahoma on Monday morning about 9:30 a.m.

Officials tell us that about 15 workers were working on an oil rig when it exploded.

At least one worker transported to hospital.

Officials tell us the explosion happened in a wooded area.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission confirms “Red Mountain Energy LLC” out of OKC is the operator at this site.

The company confirms this was a drilling rig, however, they are not sure what they were drilling for.

To OCC knowledge, they do not believe the OCC has handled anything with this company before.

OCC has two people out on the scene dealing with this from an environmental standpoint.

State Emergency Management says they have contacted the DEQ and the Corporation Commission because of the type of incident.

A viewer who lives nearby says that the explosion happened on a rig in off Bascum road.

Several ambulances and there are three life flight choppers waiting.

No word on if anyone is injured.

2 Works For You has a crew on the way to the scene and will bring you the latest information as we learn it.</s>QUINTON, Oklahoma — Five people are missing after a fiery explosion ripped through an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig Monday morning, sending plumes of black smoke into the air and leaving a derrick crumpled on the ground, an emergency official said.

Aerial footage from midday Monday showed several fires still burning at the site and the derrick, a towering metal structure above the well, collapsed onto the ground.

Officials said about 15 workers were working on an oil rig when it exploded; one person was treated at the scene. The explosion happened in a wooded area.

Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain said she could not immediately confirm any injuries or fatalities.

Cain said state environmental and regulatory officials were called to the scene. A local emergency dispatcher said the sheriff, undersheriff and county emergency management director were there.

The drilling site was being operated by Oklahoma City-based Red Mountain Energy, said Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas operators. Telephone and email messages left with Red Mountain were not immediately returned.

Skinner said a company that specializes in rig fires and other well control problems also responded to the blaze.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission confirms "Red Mountain Energy LLC" out of OKC is the operator at the site. The company confirmed this was a drilling rig.

To OCC knowledge, the OCC has not handled anything with this company before. It has two people at the scene.

State Emergency Management says it has contacted the DEQ and the Corporation Commission because of the type of incident.</s>PITTSBURG COUNTY, Oklahoma — Deputies in Pittsburg County confirm they are working an explosion near Quinton on Monday morning about 9:30 a.m. local time.

Officials tell Scripps station KJRH about 15 workers were working on an oil rig when it exploded. Five people remain missing.

At least one worker transported to hospital.

Officials said the explosion happened in a wooded area.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission confirms "Red Mountain Energy LLC" out of OKC is the operator at this site.

The company confirms this was a drilling rig, however, they are not sure what they were drilling for.

To OCC knowledge, they do not believe the OCC has handled anything with this company before.

OCC has two people out on the scene dealing with this from an environmental standpoint.

State Emergency Management says they have contacted the DEQ and the Corporation Commission because of the type of incident.

A viewer who lives nearby says that the explosion happened on a rig in off Bascum road.

Several ambulances and there are three life flight choppers waiting.

No word on if anyone is injured.</s>An oil rig explosion in Oklahoma has left five workers missing on Monday morning, according to local news reports.

Pittsburg Country Emergency Director Kevin Enloe told KOTV that three medical helicopters had been summoned to quick transfer victims of the explosion to nearby hospitals. Five of 22 workers were still missing as of Monday afternoon.

Several fires are still burning at the site, releasing plumes of smoke into the air near the town of Quinton – 100 miles away from Tulsa and 146 miles from Oklahoma City. Officials had not commented on any injuries or fatalities at the time of this article’s writing.

Contract Driller Patterson-UTI said a few of its workers were missing since the explosion, the second at an Oklahoma oil and gas well in less than a year. The same area saw another explosion at a Trinity Resources site last February.

A Reuters report says the state has several other accidents in recent months as well. A middle-aged man died in a backhoe accident earlier in January. Another energy industry worker died in December after a piece of equipment collapsed near a town called Preston. In November, a failed fitting killed another 36-year-old man during a fracking operation.

The drilling site was a project by Red Mountain Energy, an Oklahoma-based operation. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a state-wide regulatory body, said Red Mountain had authorized a private agency that specializes in rig emergency management to respond to the explosion.

Explosions at pipelines and tankers tend to allow crude oil to pollute the direct surroundings of the troubled area, though spill-related damage at rigs varies depending on the size and location of the burst. Cleanup teams are still assessing the ecological impact of the recent disaster in the East China Sea - the biggest one in decades in the area – after an Iranian oil tanker collided into another Hong Kong-flagged ship.
• None The No.1 Challenge To The Oil Rally</s>Five people are missing after a fiery explosion ripped through an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig Monday morning, sending plumes of black smoke into the air and leaving a derrick crumpled on the ground, emergency officials said.

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Pittsburg County Emergency Manager Director Kevin Enloe told television station KOTV that at least three medical helicopters landed at the site following the explosion. He said five people were missing.

Aerial footage from midday Monday showed several fires still burning at the site and the derrick, a towering metal structure above the well, collapsed onto the ground. The explosion occurred west of the town of Quinton, about 100 miles (161 kilometres) southeast of Tulsa.

More than 20 employees were at the well site when the explosion occurred, said Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris.

“Most everybody was taken off the site and taken to a secure site here in Quinton,” he said.

Morris confirmed that five people were unaccounted for, but he said could not confirm any fatalities or injuries.

Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office, said she wouldn’t be able to confirm any fatalities until the fire is extinguished and investigators can get to the scene of the explosion.

“I pray there’s not, but we just don’t know yet,” Elliott said.

Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain said state environmental and regulatory officials have been notified and were heading to the scene. A local emergency dispatcher said the sheriff, undersheriff and county emergency management director are all on the scene.

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The drilling site was being operated by Oklahoma City-based Red Mountain Energy, said Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas operators in the state. Telephone and email messages left with Red Mountain were not immediately returned.

Skinner said a company that specializes in rig fires and other well control problems also responded to the blaze.</s>In this photo provided from a frame grab from Tulsa's KOTV/NewsOn6.com, fires burn at an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig near Quinton, Okla., Monday Jan. 22, 2018. (Associated Press)

CHICAGO: Five Oklahoma drilling rig workers were missing after an explosion caused a serious fire that burned for hours, according to authorities in the central US state.

The rig, near the small city of Quinton in eastern Oklahoma, exploded at approximately 8:45 am, officials said at a news conference. Emergency workers accounted for 17 workers who escaped the flames, but five others remained missing.

Crews searching the surrounding areas for other workers had not been able to find additional survivors, authorities added.

"The personnel that got off the location, they got together and knew who was on the location," said emergency manager Kevin Enloe of Pittsburg County, where the accident took place.

Officials did not know whether the new well was drilling natural gas or oil. They said the fire continued to burn hours after the incident and that all of the rig's components were ablaze.

"Pretty much everything that is on location is on fire," Enloe said, adding that personnel had surrounded the fire but were letting it burn itself out, while company officials figured out how to cap the well and stop the source of fuel for the fire.

The rig was owned by Patterson-UTI, a provider of drilling services to North American oil and gas companies. The company said it was responding to the incident.

"The cause of the fire is unknown at this time," Patterson-UTI said in a statement. "We've activated our emergency response systems and are fully cooperating with first responders and authorities on the scene."</s>QUINTON, Okla. — Five people are missing after a fiery explosion ripped through an eastern Oklahoma drilling rig on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the air and leaving a derrick crumpled on the ground, emergency officials said.

More than 20 employees were at the natural gas well site when the blast was reported around 8:45 a.m., Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris said. Aerial footage showed several fires were still burning by midday on the rig and other equipment; the derrick, a towering metal structure above the well, collapsed onto the ground.

Emergency crews were pulled away after other explosions at the site, where several tanks are also located, Pittsburg County Emergency Management Director Kevin Enloe said during an afternoon news conference.

“Pretty much everything that is on location is on fire,” Enloe said.

A statement Monday night from emergency management said the fire was out.

The explosion occurred west of the town of Quinton, about 100 miles (161 kilometres) southeast of Tulsa. Enloe said firefighters were letting the blaze burn and weren’t putting water on it to keep from spreading possible hazardous materials at the site.

Enloe said about 17 workers were pulled from the site following the blast, including one who suffered minor burns and was treated at the scene. He said crews were searching the surrounding woods to see if anyone had fled into the area.

“Most everybody was taken off the site and taken to a secure site here in Quinton,” said Morris, the sheriff. He said workers were “pretty shook up.”

“It’s a pretty dramatic deal to go through,” he said.

Confirmation of any fatalities wasn’t expected to be possible until the fire was extinguished and investigators could get to the scene of the explosion, said Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office.

“I pray there’s not, but we just don’t know yet,” Elliott said.

State environmental and regulatory officials were heading to the scene after being notified, according to Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain.

The drilling site was being operated by Oklahoma City-based Red Mountain Operating, said Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas operators in the state. Telephone and email messages left by The Associated Press with Red Mountain were not immediately returned.

Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy Inc., a drilling rig operator, confirmed in a statement Monday that some of its employees remain unaccounted for.

“The cause of the fire is unknown at this time,” the company said.

Skinner said a company that specializes in rig fires and other well control problems also responded to the blaze.

This story has been corrected to show the drilling site was operated by Red Mountain Operating, not Red Mountain Energy.</s>QUINTON, Okla. — An emergency official says five people are missing after an explosion at a drilling rig in eastern Oklahoma.

Pittsburg County Emergency Manager Director Kevin Enloe tells KOTV that at least three medical helicopters landed at the site following the Monday morning explosion. He says five people are missing.

The explosion occurred west of the town of Quinton, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa.

Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain tells The Associated Press that it wasn't immediately clear if there were any injuries or fatalities.

Cain says state environmental and regulatory officials have been notified and are heading to the scene. A local emergency dispatcher says the sheriff, undersheriff and county emergency management director are all on the scene.</s>Five oil field workers are missing after an explosion and fire Monday at a natural gas drilling site in southeastern Oklahoma.

"The explosion buckled the drilling rig operating near a small town 100 miles south of Tulsa and fueled a smoke plume that was visible for miles. In a statement, the company operating the drilling rig said it wasn't sure what caused the explosion and fire. One burned worker was taken to a hospital by helicopter, 16 other workers made it off the rig safely."



Workers were "pretty shook up," Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris told journalists at a news conference. "It's a pretty dramatic deal to go through."

The county's Emergency Manager Kevin Enloe said first responders searched the surrounding area for the missing workers, but haven't been able to get within a hundred feet of the well fire.

A statement released Monday night by emergency management said the fire is out.

Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma medical examiner's office tells The Associated Press:



"Confirmation of any fatalities wasn't expected to be possible until the fire was extinguished and investigators could get to the scene of the explosion. I pray there's not, but we just don't know yet," Elliott said."



The drilling rig belonged to Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy. Red Mountain Energy was operating the site.
An explosion on an oil rig in the U.S. state of Oklahoma leaves one injured and five people reported missing.