, 1866-05-24

Seven Producing Wells, One HefiuefT,
aud 3,4O0 Barrels OF OIL Destroyed
EtHt, SSQ,OUO.

From The 1it1syl1Ic (Ph) Herald, May ILL
About nine o'clock on Saturday morning,
dense column OF smoke was seen 70 rise aboFc
the hills due south Of this city. 1t was evi.
dent tbat another extensive tire had com.
menced s1Dong The oil wells on the creek.
The telegraph Office was beslegrd by nn eager
crowd, and about halfp2st nine intelligence
was received that the location Of the fire Was
on Pioneer Run. Those having interests In
that locality Immediately started Cd on horse
dense, reaching height above the hills Of
nearly so feet, bnt at eleven o'clock 1t had
nearly disappeared. =,
Reaching the mouth of Pioneer Run about
one o'clock, The first notable object was SIX Of
Dom & Co.'s tank cars. which were being
IN looking mp the run, two or three small
clouds OF smoke were visible, indicating that
Tic fire was not quite e1tfngnlshed. Upon
proceeding TO the spot, We discovered that
the fire had originated in the Stewart we'll,
from gross c2rclessutss. THIS We'll wal hay
Ing ITS sucker rods pulled, and it became NE
ccssary to disconnect gas Pipe which led
from the we'll to gus tank, The gas from
which was used instead Of fuel for the boiler.
The engineer careless1y left the gas pipe open.
and the pressure being gone In the tank, the
flame found its way oack through! The pipe,
cnukiug nj instantaneous explosion. THIS
communicated fire to the oil tank containing
200 uarrels Of oil.
A proposition was made to run tho oil OF,
but ills WIS pcremptorily refused. After
burning about fifteen minutes the tank burst,
and scattered the Oh In every direction The
tanks belonging to the Underwood wells,
Nos. !. 9 and 3, containing l,ooo barrels Of
ture Peter Z. Heinz appeared Upon the scene,
and proposed to lay down pipes in the various
channels through which the oil world pass,
and place dams across the pipes so that the
oil would be checked In lis course and COM
pclied to pass through the ,p1pes, and come or.
proposition was decliued as absurd aud chi-
inctical by the excited owners Of the property.
Heinz, however, having d machine shop at
stake at the foot Of the run, was not to be
blutied St, so lie assembled as many men ns
lie could, and wcut d tnr down the run rs he
thought would give him time to put this "a, 7 plaa
into execution. lie picked up all the stray
sI1 and three-inch pipe laying around loose,
layed them in the different channels and COM
pictely damned the run irom one side 10 tne
otner. Thinking that there might DC chance
Of this dam orc1howiug, he placed two Others
Ing the result. In few minutes down came
the etrcam, of liquid fire with q crncklinS
noise licking up everything In Its path
but as soon IS it reached tho dam Its course
was stnyed. The oil flowed through the
pipes and came out cxtinguished4 From
fAcncc II passed 10 the eeton4 aoa eIA.
dams, where 1t was drnwn OF into barrels.
! By This simple means the tf.mes we're stayed
md the lower portion Of Pioneer Run vas
saved. When tie oil was run safely Oh there
was no further danger Of the fire spreading.
The following Is o list Of the property de-
stroyed: Stewart wells Nos. and 3, 900 bar
rels ii oil; !; loss, SIX, 900. Underwood wells
Nos. l. and g.. 1,o1o barrels oil ;
rels Of oil i; loss, $4,000. Hack we'll
no oil /; loss $500 Wise we'll, 20 brls of oil
5000. No. 9, Shoe and Leather Lease, drill.
ing loss f5,0o0. Cottage well, 200 brls o.
! oil; loss sti,0o0. Lease No. 4, Shoe and
Leather, derrick burned; loss 500. The Pi
oneer oil reHners, owned by SIr. Dean and
fasso ;nc,1g;or o a s5ch i1ls Of crude o os
| $i5,UO0. The treating house was saved
Tie total loss By this flse was about