An oil tank battery that exploded while workers performed maintenance off Colo. 66 near Colorado Boulevard in Mead has left one man dead, Weld County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Matt Turner confirmed Thursday evening.
Mountain View Fire Assistant Chief Roger Rademacher originally said three workers working on site were injured and transported by ambulance — one with serious injuries and the two others with moderate injuries.
The oil tank battery is owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, and the death marks the third fatality related to the oil and gas firm since mid-April. A Firestone house explosion on April 17 spurred the company to shut 3,000 wells across the state, leading Gov. John Hickenlooper to order a statewide review of oil and gas operations in the aftermath.
Mark Martinez and his brother-in-law, Joey Irwin, both 42, were killed in the Firestone house explosion. Erin Martinez was left badly burned.
When law enforcement personnel arrived on scene about 3:15 p.m. Thursday, they found the oil tank battery “fully engulfed in flame,” Turner said. He added that the fire had been extinguished by crews shortly after arrival.
Two of the victims were taken to North Colorado Medical Center for burn treatment, Turner said, adding that the third worker was taken to the Medical Center of the Rockies.
The fourth victim was later discovered at the scene of the explosion and pronounced dead, according to Turner.
The Weld County Sheriff’s Office said the identity of the deceased would not be released at this time and will be released later by the coroner’s office.
Officials on Twitter said there are no hazards to residents and there are no evacuations.
“Preliminary information suggests that maintenance was possibly being performed on the site when the incident happened,” said a Weld County sheriff’s news release.
The oil tank facility ignited as contract crews were doing maintenance, Anadarko spokeswoman Helen Wells confirmed in an email Thursday night.
Grand View Estates resident Ken Millet said he lives about a block away from the site of the fire.
“It was like two bombs going off back to back and just the house shook and the windows,” he said. “All these homes out here are brick so it takes quite a bit to make ’em move.”
The fire burned about 4 miles north of the Firestone house that exploded.
When asked during a news briefing outside the explosion site on Thursday about concerns regarding Anadarko’s two recent explosions in the same county, Turner said it “was still very much an active incident,” and could not comment further.
Amelia Arvesen: 303-684-5212, arvesena@times-call.com or twitter.com/ameliaarvesen
Anthony Hahn: 303-473-1422, hahna@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/_anthonyhahn
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