Building explodes at Clark compressor station

Posted 12/1/16

At the Windsor Energy, LLC. compressor station, a building that housed the natural-gas-fired boiler to heat crude oil exploded, said Clark firefighter Dave Hoffert, who also served as the incident commander.

The only explanation is a natural gas …

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Building explodes at Clark compressor station

Posted

It looked like a steel-sided building in Clark had burst at the seams Tuesday night, with siding and styrofoam insulation strewn around the shed like fallout from a big, ill-tempered dust devil.

At the Windsor Energy, LLC. compressor station, a building that housed the natural-gas-fired boiler to heat crude oil exploded, said Clark firefighter Dave Hoffert, who also served as the incident commander.

The only explanation is a natural gas leak ignited due to some sort of electrical malfunction, Hoffert said.

“Something electrical set it off,” he said.

Gas valves into the building were immediately closed after the explosion, and the only remaining fire was on a motor, likely burning off accumulated grease. That was speedily subdued with a fire extinguisher, Hoffert said.

Although most of the steel siding was blown off and the shed’s roof crumpled, the boiler and equipment in the shed remained intact.

Following the initial blast, there was nothing within the building to feed flames, Hoffert said. “It was like an exploding pop can.”

Approximately 1 mile from the site, two Clark firefighters who were watching TV  felt their windows shake when the explosion occurred, Hoffert said. People in a subdivision to the east of the station saw the flames and notified authorities. 

Clark and Powell volunteer fire departments and ambulances responded to the scene. There were no injuries.

Fires in the oil patch can be devastating, but damage in this incident was relatively minor, Hoffert said. “It’s as good as it gets in an oil field.”

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