PEARSALL, Texas - Authorities say three workers have been injured in a fiery explosion at a South Texas well site that destroyed an oil tank. Over thirty fire fighters from the city of Pearsall and surrounding counties spent several hours working to contain the fire.
"They are high pressure oil tanks. Anything could have happened. We just don't know," said Pearsall Mayor Albert Alvarez.
Pearsall Volunteer Fire Department Chief Placido Aguilar said Friday that authorities are trying to determine what started the fire on a fracking tank, as three workers were on top. He says the fire then spread to a 30-foot tall oil tank, leading to an explosion that blew off the lid.
The explosion happened just before 6:00 pm Thursday evening, and it took responders almost two hours to get the blaze under control.
"The fire on top of the tank was mainly oil. You can't just mix - put water, so we had to have mixtures of foam," replied Chief Aguilar.
Aguilar says nobody was seriously hurt. He had no further details on conditions of the workers, who were transported to hospitals to be checked.
Pearsall is 50 miles southwest of San Antonio.
