An explosion and fire occurred Monday night at a Continental Resources natural gas well near Watonga, OK, in Blaine County. There were no injuries, the company said.

On Tuesday the well was still burning natural gas, but the fire was contained to one location. Wild Well Control was on location and additional resources were being brought to the site, according to Continental. A managed burn will continue at the well, which is the safest course of action, the company said. “It is possible the well could continue to burn for several days before the damaged rig can be cleared and the fire is extinguished.”

The site is about 60 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

First responders were released after several hours. Originally a two-mile perimeter around the well was set up and about eight homes were evacuated. The perimeter was later moved to within one mile for public safety. Representatives from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission were on site, and the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies were notified, the company said. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Patterson-UTI Drilling LLC owns and operates the Patterson 179 rig involved. Continental is the operator of the well.

On its website independent Continental said it has the largest acreage positions in the Bakken and Anadarko Woodford resource plays and is the No. 2 oil producer in the Rocky Mountains.

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