Prud’homme fire snuffed out after six days

A fire that had been burning since Oct. 11, when leaked natural gas ignited at a TransGas pumping station near Prud’homme, was finally extinguished Friday evening, but there was still some work to be done to properly seal the cavern where the gas is held.

“It’s the most stable situation we’ve had since Saturday,” TransGas spokesman Dave Burdeniuk said Friday evening.

The plan Friday afternoon was to blast the blazing well with water cannons to push back the flames, then swiftly plop a new wellhead in place with a heat-protected crane. A 13-metre vent pipe sat atop the wellhead to direct accumulated gas away from workers.

At press time Friday, the wellhead had been placed and gas was venting.

The next step, which involved workers in protective suits bolting the wellhead into place, was still in progress at press time.

Specialized contractors from Calgary-based company Safety Boss were performing the risky work.

Burdeniuk said water was sprayed all over the area during the process to prevent reignition.

Burdeniuk said there was a chance they might intentionally reignite the fire for a short time to burn off excess gas, but that it looked like they wouldn’t need to take that step.

Workers then planned to seal off the underground cavern by closing the wellhead valves and installing a plug in the steel casing that leads to the cavern. It could be late into the evening before the cavern was sealed off completely, he said.

“Once that cavern is secure, we breathe a sign of relief.”

The fire at the facility six kilometres south of Prud’homme began Saturday morning at the wellhead of one of seven caverns on the site used for storing natural gas. TransGas taps into those reserves during winter when demand for natural gas surges.

At their peak, flames were shooting as high as 75 metres into the air. A 1.6-km area around the well was cordoned off, and 13 people left four nearby farms as a safety precaution.

TransGas is a subsidiary of Crown corporation SaskEnergy.

Earlier this week, Burdeniuk said the company has estimated that the cost of extinguishing the fire and repairing the equipment would be between $5 and $10 million.

The 730 Terajoules of natural gas stored in the affected cavern is worth around $2 million, Burdeniuk said.

An insurance adjuster is at the scene, and TransGas hopes the value of the lost gas and damaged equipment is insured.

The cause of the blaze, the extent of the damage, and a more precise estimate of the cost of repairs remain unknown for now.

TransGas has 26 natural gas storage caverns around the province.

The Prud’homme fire was the first wellhead fire the company has experienced since it began using the caverns in the 1960s.