The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1918-03-16
Explosion s, the oil Vel

happening which. to onr mind. u Of
significant interest at this time when
work has been resumed 10 the White
River oil and gaA field. Here 1t Is:
Tbursday morning word vss re-
ceived here that the oil-boring plant
eighteen miles below Meeker. came
near being destroyed Tuesday eve
ming. A large body of gas Was en-
countered. and came from the veil
with terrible force. By some scci-
dent 1t took fire and shot up In the air
sixty feet with . scream-like noise
Efforts to put out the fire were futile.
and It was with much difficulty that
the engine. boiler. etc. were removed
to places Of safety. At last accounts
the frery gas was still master Of the
situation.
John b. Mayors. superintendent Of
the workings. came up Thursday AZ
ternoOn on his way to Denver. and
WAS the guest Of Frank n. JoHantgen
at the Meeker hotel. A HERALD
representative called on Mr.. Mayors
later in the evening and found that
gentleman In his usual good spirits
and laxative mood, but he appeared
Is II he had taken . jsunt in the In
fernal regions. His face and hands
were black, blistered and swollen,
his physiognomy con-
The causes which led to
Mr.. Mayors distorted appearance are
about as follows:
About half-past four o'clock Tues
day afternoon, while the drill at the
works WAS slowly penetrating farther
and farther into Mother Earth .
strong flow Of natural gas was struck.
To avoid blaze the fire under the
boiler WAS promptly Withdrawn and
with wet rags. and other
taken, as the superin-
tendent was aware of the conse-
quences should the gas become
ignited. In . few hours II visibly
spread over the valley with . mist
like appearance, and the next move
70 be made was to connect . pipe
with the we'll and carry of the gas TO
q place Of safety. 30 that the work Of
could be continued. Not
wishing to put OF for tomorrow what
could be done today. Mr.. Mayors set
TO work after supper u bring the CHS
under control. With him were r. 8.
Hatch. Loomey Burch and Joe
Mckee, and together they were At
the derrick to accomplish their object.
Mr.. Mayer was In the act Of scrswing
an elbow and . short length Of pipe
to the well-caAing when, without
moments warning, the gas In the at
mosphere took fire and was . solid
MAS Of flame for two hundred feet
around In Al instant. Self-preserva-
ton being their first thought, each
made break for liberty, and how
they managed to escape with their
lives was indeed miraculous. Mr..
Mayors says he went through his
share OF the rebellion, was shot four
times, and had other thrilling ex-
periehces, but he never was In such .
ticklish predicament In his life be-
fore. nor does he desire . repetition.
The shirt lie wore was burned to .
crisp where exposed, his hair, eye
Iashes and beard terribly singed, and
the flesh on his face, neck and upper
limbs awfully scorched. The others
..u...l LIT, .t,u{I~ /, hurna huk mt
quite ~ serious.
The scope Of the blaze decreased In
less than . minute and concentrated
to the gas coming from the we'll.
Massrs. Hatch. Burch and Mckee got
out one after another in different
directions, and 1t flashed through
their minds that Mr.. Mayors was
caught In the flame, but he appeared
moment later. As soon as the four
could get to breath easier and reslize
the situation they attempted to
rescue the plant. The engine was
gotten out Of the way, but the derrick
and drilling apparatus was COM
plstely destroyed, the heat becoming
80 intense that steel and iron melted
and burned nearly as readily as wood.
How the FIRE was communicated to
the gas will never be known. 1t
might have been caused by . spark
Of fire from Mayors steel tongs strik-
Ing the iron pipe or the gas may have
come In contact with q sinouldering
ember In the ash box.
The gas ia still burning, and the
noise 1t makes can be heard over two
miles distant, and nightly 1t ilIutni-
Mates the surrounding country for
miles. Mr.. Mayors, who, by the way,
is All expert In the oil and natural
gas business, having sunk hundreds
OF wells In the oil and gas regions In