Small fire extinguished aboard Gulf petroluem platform; 2nd fire for Mariner Energy in a week

Company puts out 2nd Gulf platform fire in a week

NEW ORLEANS — A small fire on a petroleum platform owned by Mariner Energy Inc. has been put out with a water hose and a hand-held fire extinguisher.

Thursday’s fire was the second reported in a week aboard a Mariner platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

Patrick Cassidy, spokesman for Houston-based Mariner, said the fire occurred while a maintenance crew was using a sawing device. He said the crew extinguished the fire and returned to work. There were no injuries.

Cassidy said the platform, 109 miles south of Lafayette, has been out of production since about 2006.

On Sept. 2, a fire raged on another Mariner platform off the Louisiana coast. No one was injured in that fire, and the cause remains under investigation.