WELD COUNTY, Colo. — All employees were safely evacuated after a generator at an oil production site in Weld County caught fire just before 9 p.m. Monday and sent flames shooting 20-30 feet into the air.
The Platteville Gilcrest Fire Department (PGFPD) and LaSalle Fire (LFD) received numerous called about the fire at PDC Energy located near County Road 38 and Weld County Road 35. PDC Energy is an independent oil and gas company.
People living nearby reported hearing a loud boom.
"We heard a loud boom, windows were rattling, we looked out and there's a fracking rig east of our house," said Scott Sherman who lives next door to the oil and gas company. "So there's flames shooting out of it, and large billows of black smoke. We didn't see any emergency vehicles at the time so we immediately called 911. They said they had already received some reports from the crew and had crews on the way."
Due to the heavy fire, firefighters took a defensive fire attack approach and begin fire cooling measures. Specialty foam trailers were brought in to assist with those efforts.
More than two dozen firefighters from departments including PGFP, LFD and Ft. Lupton and Platte Valley Fire and UCHealth assisted with the fire.
They dealt with frigid temperatures and blowing snow conditions overnight. The fire was fully extinguished by 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and all crews were released from the scene.
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