A fire burning Sunday on a natural-gas field near Byers prompted a Houston-based response team to make the trip north.
The fire burned surface equipment near one gas well, but no wells actually blew out, said El Paso Corp. spokesman Richard Wheatley. The field of 25 wells just south of Byers is one of four in the state operated by Colorado Interstate Gas Co., a subsidiary of El Paso Corp. Wheatley characterized the well, located at Latigo Storage Field, as a supplementary gas-storage well.
Wheatley said the company received notice of the fire at 2:30 a.m. Sunday when a resident reported it to authorities. Wheatley said no company personnel were at the facility at that time.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office closed county roads leading to the facility, and the Byers Fire Department extinguished a grass fire at the scene, but the Sheriff’s Office said El Paso Corp. was taking the lead on the response.
“This is their incident. We’re out there because it happens to be in Arapahoe County,” a Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
Wheatley said the company isolated the well closest to the fire and would let the fire burn while a team from El Paso Corp.’s Houston office experienced in handling such incidents traveled to the site.
The Sheriff’s Office recommended evacuation for several homes, but no mandatory evacuation order was given, and Wheatley said residents chose to remain in their homes. Wheatley said Colorado Interstate Gas Co. would help with relocating any residents who chose to evacuate.
Wheatley said the situation was “stable” and that an investigation into the cause of the blaze would go forward after the response to the fire itself.
Wheatley said the fire would not affect customer service.
Kyle Glazier: 303-954-1638 or kglazier@denverpost.com
