Gas company says fire from W.Va. gas well explosion is out; no word on capping effort

Gas company says W.Va. well fire is out

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — The fire that has burned for days from a gas drilling explosion that injured seven workers in West Virginia is finally out.

Chief Oil & Gas spokeswoman Kristi Gittins said Friday the fire that’s been burning since Monday has ended, but she had few other details.

Gittins has previously said Wild Well Control would eventually cap the hole.

Texas-based Union Drilling Inc. was sinking a natural gas well through an abandoned coal mine near Moundsville in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle this week when it hit a methane gas pocket.

What caused that methane to ignite is still under investigation.

In the meantime, the state Department of Environmental Protection has halted all West Virginia operations by the well’s permit holder, AB Resources of Ohio.