East Finley well pad fire caused $13.5 million in damage
A June fire that damaged trucks and equipment at a CNX well pad in East Finley Township caused about $13.5 million in damage, according to the report from a state police fire marshal.
The marshal deemed it an accidental fire. It started about 10:14 p.m. June 27 at the Morris 31 pad on Newland School Road. The report stated that “diesel fuel was unintentionally introduced to the exterior of an operating turbo unit of a hydraulic fracturing pump.”
Jeff Yates, county public safety director, said last month a worker was refueling frack trucks with high-pressure pumps when there was an ignition. The Department of Environmental Protection reported about 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel ignited. Seven of the frack trucks caught fire and were destroyed, along with the truck being used for refueling, a man lift and an acid tanker, Yates said.
The West Finley Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the county’s public safety department, and firefighters from Claysville, West Alexander, Lone Pine and Amwell, Canton, Hanover and South Strabane townships in Washington County and crews from Richhill and Morris Township in Greene County and Dallas Pike in West Virginia.