Emergency responders on Wednesday were still trying to douse the flames from a natural gas well that exploded off the coast of Louisiana, evacuating 44 workers, the Coast Guard said.
Petty Officer Carlos Vega said he was aboard the Coast Guard cutter Pompano on Tuesday morning when crew saw the explosion and fireball, and rushed to respond, CBS reported. All were evacuated safely, and no one was injured.
Eileen Angelico, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said investigators still don’t know what caused the explosion.
On Wednesday, emergency workers were still trying to figure out how to extinguish the fire, she said.
A firefighting ship had been sent to the scene on Tuesday. And a specialist company — Wild Well Control Inc. — was also on scene, trying to determine how best to approach the flames, CBS reported.
Meanwhile, officials with the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration were still diverting sea and air traffic, and ordering buffer zones of several hundred yards.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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