TAMARACK - The fire is out.
The gas well fire that burned for almost two weeks at Dominion Transmissions Inc. was officially declared out at 8:25 p.m. Thursday, according to Dan Donovan, public relations director for Dominion.
"We installed a new valve on the well head and then closed it. That stopped the flow of gas and put out the fire," Donovan said.
"Safety was a major concern. Nobody was hurt," Donovan said.
A crew of firefighters from Texas experienced in quelling this type of fire worked with local officials to cap the well head, which shot flames high into the air and lit the night sky in Leidy Township for the last 12 days.
"Fires like this one don't happen often. We needed some special help with this," Donovan continued.
Now that the fire is out, he said the investigation begins to find out how it started and how much it cost the company.
"Right now we are trying to determine how much gas it consumed. There are no estimates at this time. We've also started an investigation into what caused the leak," Donovan said, declining to even estimate what the loss in dollars might be.
Donovan said the well where the fire occurred will not be used again until all the pipes are replaced.
He thanked local officials for their help, especially Clinton County Emergency Management, state police, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.
