Strasburg firefighters extinguished an oil well fire that burst into flame early Wednesday morning, authorities say.
No one was hurt by the fire, said Assistant Chief Frank Fields of Strasburg Fire Protection District 8.
A passerby spotted the blaze on Jewell Road near Wolfcreek Road around 6:30 a.m. and called 911, Fields said.
Firefighters had a maintenance company turn off a valve that shut off the source of the oil from the blaze and it died down, he said.
At that point, firefighters used about 250 gallons of water to extinguish what was left of the fire.
Officials believe that a mechanical failure of a large gasket blew out, triggering the fire, Fields said.
It was the second oil well fire the department put out in 2015, Fields said. There are many oil wells in the Strasburg area, he said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or @kirkmitchell or
