Incident Report

Subject:         USA - Small Team Boards Burned Cook Inlet Platform to Begin Damage Assessment

Date of Email report:  Sun 05/10/2014 13:54

Report Detail:

A boat sprays water on the smoking Baker gas-drilling platform in Cook Inlet off of Nikiski on Thursday, October 2, 2014. Investigators hoped to board the platform Friday.

A small team on Friday afternoon boarded the scorched natural gas platform in Cook Inlet that caught fire Thursday morning to get a first-hand look at the damage.  The fire at Hilcorp Alaska LLC’s Baker platform near Nikiski was contained by nightfall Thursday. Authorities on Friday said the fire that started in crew sleeping quarters didn’t cause any detectable pollution. Hilcorp shut off any gas production remotely after alarms sounded Thursday morning.  Two response vessels at the platform overnight Thursday into Friday responded to several small flare-ups though the night, according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

A flyover Friday morning confirmed the fire was still contained and the living quarters where the fire began were a “total loss,” according to an update around noon from the command center staffed by Hilcorp, DEC and the U.S. Coast Guard.  The Nikiski Fire Department, Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. and Offshore Marine Services are also involved in the platform fire response.  A 2-mile maritime safety zone remained in effect Friday.  The fire’s cause and the extent of the damage won’t be completely clear until investigators can board and get to work, said Hilcorp spokeswoman Lori Nelson.
But responders took a step in that direction mid-afternoon Friday. A four-person team -- two from Hilcorp, two from Nikiski Fire Department -- made it to the platform, a Coast Guard spokesman said.  A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter remained nearby in case the fire flared again or the platform proved unstable, Petty Officer 1st Class Shawn Eggert said. A fireboat remained on scene.  The team is making sure the platform is at no risk of collapse, Eggert said.  The team was also expected to inspect critical components and systems on the platform, according to the DEC.    The platform’s gas production was minimal, and the shutdown that began Thursday morning won’t affect gas supplies to local utilities, Nelson said

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