Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-12-16
GREAT DANGER IN
BURNING WELLS
eEAsELEss MENACE TO LIFE AND
PROPERTY
Sometimes They Roar and Boil for
Years, Forming Great Volcano
like Craters.

years, FORMING Sreat Nolcano-
like craters.
The burning gas well is always one
Of the greatest menaces that pro-
ducing field has to face. The danger
is not only to the surrounding proper
ty but also to the entire field thru
the great depletion Of the gas supply
This was demonstrated recently in
the Oklahoma oil and gas we'll on
the Cimarron river bed, in the heart
of the field, burned wide open for
several weeks. Oil men now declare
that the extensive waste OF gas at
that time is responsible for the heavy
decrease in the production of the big
oil wells in the neighborhood.
Fighting burning gasser has also
been one of the greatest problems ol
an oil field. Many methou3 have been
adopted. the big majority of them in
vain. and for a number of years the
biggest fires of this kind continued
to burn and destroy in spite of all
the efforts put forth to stop them. In
more recent years, however, STRATEGY
has been employed in number %
instances and has proven successful
where the theories have failed abso-
lutely. In fact a wise head in an oil
field that can quickly devise plan
to put out burning gas well really
ranks with Johnny Evers, Field Mar
shall Mackenzen and Tod Sloan-men
~ hN wi 70 tuhn
pressed.
The big gasser that burned for
about six years in the Caddo field of
Louisiana gained the greatest dis
tnction, no doubt, that the oil world
has ever known. 1t roared and boil
ed. shot its flames high in the air
and attracted visitors by the hundreds
for years before it was finally con-
quered. Its crater became over 100
feet wide at the top and had depth
of ut least rs feet In this cauldron
was a mixture of mud and water, gas
and flames, boiling, seething mass.
Occasionally the gas pressure would
send the mixture from so to 100 feet
IN the air. The forest for a radius of
several hundred feet was killed, and
the well was considered a menace to
the entire field during the years thai
It burned.
The Cimarron river bed burning
gasser, just north of Pemeta, ragged
for several weeks before it was shut
off, and then it was accomplished by
o trick. A heavy wire cable was
stretched over the top of the well and
thru the gas flame. Then a piece of
casing was drawn along the cable un
til 1t could be dropped over the hole.
The fire went up the casing, issuing
at the top. By giving the cable
quick relax, the gas was separated
from the flame and the fire was out.
This gas well came in with an in
itial flow of about 60,000,000 cubic
feet day. and when the fire was ex-
tinguished three weeks later the out
put had decreased to about 20,000,000
cubic feet daily.
That the waste of gas from this
well would no doubt have an effect
on the longevity of oil wells around
It is the opinion expressed by Tul-
ga pipe line official and affirmed by
other oilmen. The flow of the wells
In this field is due, it is understood
TO gas pressure instead of water pres
sure, at least in the vast majority of
wells, and the violent exhaustion of
80 much gas pressure thru the burning
gas we'll would no doubt shorten the
life of the oil wells in it's neighbor-
hood by at least three months, it is
said, and perhaps more.
Another burning gas well in the
north pool of the Cushing field that
attracted more than ordinary atten-
tion was the initial well drilled by
the McMan Oil Company on the Wal
ter Starr allotment, about midway be-
tween Pemeta and Oilton. The burn
ang gasser also continued for some
time before the flame was extinguish-
o trick.
The company desired to drop re-
ducing nipple over the hole. The nip
pie was attached to one end of an
elbow of pipe, with long string of
casing attached to the other end. Fin
ally, one of the employees suggested
that one of the heavy wagons, used
on the lease, be pressed into service
to carry the elbow over the top of the
hole. His idea was that when the
wagon burned up the elbow would
drop covering the hole.
The elbow with its string of casing
attached was loaded on the wagon
and by means of a cable fastened to
the rear axle 1t was pulled into the
gas flame and to a point where the
reducing nipple was directly over the
hole. The plan worked all right ex'
cepting that one side of the wagon
burned more quickly than the other,
and when the elbow fell it rested on
one side of the hole, without covering
It.
One wagon had heen burned in the