‘Potential hazards’ released after old Alabama oil rig catches fire
A decommissioned oil rig caught fire in Alabama Wednesday, allowing “potential hazards” to spill into the water below, officials said.
The multi-story rig — containing oil, diesel fuel, hydraulic fluid, cardboard, insulation, and other flammable materials — caught fire shortly before 2 p.m. on Pinto Island, a location in Mobile Bay largely dedicated to shipbuilding, the Mobile Fire Department said.
Crews had been scrapping the old semi-submersible platform when a cut sparked the blaze, which erupted after coming into contact with old fuel and oil, Mobile Fire-Rescue Chief Jeremy Lami told CBS 42.
Firefighters immediately notified local and state emergency management departments that “hazardous materials potentially [were] washing into the River and waterways.”
Firefighters had a difficult time extinguishing the 2-alarm blaze because of the platform’s roughly 12-story height and its distance from nearby hydrants, the chief said.
“The platform is probably several 100 feet above the ground,” Lami said. “So any equipment that we’re using on top of that platform has to be taken up there with them. So we’ve got to tote all that equipment up to the scene.”
The shipyard crew aided the fire department by piling firefighters, gear, hoses and other equipment into its basket crane and transporting them to the platform, where other firefighters were able to make the necessary hose connections to establish a water supply, the MFRD said.
The department also used drones and infrared cameras to detect remaining compartments of flame as the platform floor became increasingly unstable for firefighters to stand on.
After approximately three hours, 55 firefighters and “hundreds of gallons of water and foam,” the fire was extinguished.
There were no reported injuries.
Though the blaze posed “no risk to anyone in the area,” fire officials remained concerned about the “potential hazards” to the environment.
“What we have got is residual mixed with the water and the foam that we used to battle the flames, just kinda flowing off of the top of the rig,” MFRD spokesperson Steven Millhouse told reporters.
An investigation into the cause of the fire and its environmental impact is ongoing.