Officials identify five who died in oil rig blast

QUINTON — A resounding boom startled natural gas rig operators Monday morning. Flames sent them scattering for safety. And one man slid down a guyline from high up on the derrick to escape with minor burns.

Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Harris described that harrowing scene during a Tuesday afternoon news conference, where he revealed that the remains of five workers who were unable to make it out had been found about 29 hours after the initial explosion.

The five who died were identified as:

• Josh Ray, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas.

• Matt Smith, 29, of McAlester.

• Cody Risk, 26, of Wellington, Colorado.

• Parker Waldridge, 60, of Crescent.

• Roger Cunningham, 55, of Seminole.

“There was an explosion, they heard a loud boom and they saw fire,” Harris said. “And they ran; everybody was trying to survive.

“From what I understand, there was one guy that was up very high on the derrick that grabbed a hold of a guyline and slid down the guyline, which would have been scary in itself.”

Seventeen workers survived the explosion and inferno, including the one who suffered burns that were described as minor. That worker was airlifted when the pain worsened after he initially declined transport.

The rig site retained so much heat from the blaze that medical examiners couldn’t enter

until about noon Tuesday, 19 or 20 hours after the well head was shut off and flames extinguished, Harris said. By 2 p.m., officials had confirmation that the five workers who were initially reported as missing had been found.

The remains were inside the “doghouse,” which is where drilling operations took place. Officials believe that is where the fire started.

“I don’t know if they could’ve gotten out or if the blast knocked them out or if the fire was just too hot to get to the door,” Pittsburg County Commissioner Charlie Rogers said.

The survivors were met by emergency responders as they walked on the road away from the well site.

‘A mother always worries’

Parker Waldridge’s mother, Martha Waldridge, said she will most remember him for “loving his mother.”

“He was a drilling superintendent. Him and his brother both have been in it most of their life,” she said. “I’ve always worried about him — a mother always worries about their children, no matter how old they are.”

Parker, who is survived by a wife, four adult daughters and numerous grandchildren, had just returned to Oklahoma in the past few months after working in south Texas.

“He had only been on that rig down there about two months,” said his older brother Walter Waldridge.

Jason Diller of Woodward said he was shocked by the news of Parker Waldridge’s death, whom he said he has known for

15 years through their work in the oil and gas industry.

“We hear of accidents all the time, but it’s unusual to know anyone when the names come out,” Diller said. “If I had to say anything about Parker Waldridge, it would be that he was a damn good guy. A pretty hard-nosed and to-the-point kind of a guy — he was pretty old school, but he was a good guy.

“He was a consultant on the rigs — an operations manager type guy. I’m pretty sure he worked in the oil fields his whole life.”

A Go Fund Me fundraiser for Cody Risk states that he is survived by three children and his parents, Carl and Leslie Risk, “all of which he loved with all his heart and soul.”

Attempts to reach family and friends of other victims were unsuccessful on Tuesday.

‘It’s affected the whole town’

Quinton, a town of about 900 people, is just east of the explosion site. The community was grappling with the ordeal a day later, with many folks involved in the oil and gas industry or who know someone in the field.

A man dressed in a Quinton Police Department hoodie on Tuesday morning turned away a Tulsa World reporter who was attempting to enter a local church to speak with its minister. Two men embraced outside the entrance, while others inside had tearstained faces.

Joseph Perez, a 20-year-old employee of Mama Mary’s, a Mexican restaurant just off the main street, said many diners had hypothetical discussions about what if it had been them or one of their family members in that situation.

“It’s affected the whole town, I’d say,” Perez said.

Dyrl Miller, a 75-yearold resident of Quinton, was sitting in the True Value hardware store on the main strip talking with friends. Miller said the tragedy is a sobering reminder of the dangers of oilfield operations, in which he worked in for nearly 33 years.

Miller said he didn’t hear the blast but saw copious amounts of dark smoke rising from the site’s general area. It wasn’t until he saw news reports that he understood what had happened.

“I never dreamt about it being that oil rig,” he said.

Secondary explosions occurred at the rig in the aftermath of the initial blast, igniting secondary fires that crews contained. Crews kept a 100-foot radius from the burning rig because of the dangerous conditions,

with the fire eventually self-contained to the well-head area.

Officials said flames spared no equipment on the site but that no one else’s property or livestock were adversely affected. There also were no environmental concerns at the moment for nearby residents.

“That’s all still going to be coming out in the investigative process, but they are doing due diligence to make sure they don’t have contaminants contaminating anything further than needs to,” said Kevin Enloe, Pittsburg County emergency management director.

With the strong winds that day, Miller offered praise for fire crews.

“It’s a miracle (the fire) didn’t get off (site) and burn off half the countryside,” Miller said.