PASCAGOULA, Mississippi – A fire broke out Sunday morning (Mar. 6) on an oil rig 50 miles off Grand Isle in the Gulf of Mexico, injuring 2 people but apparently not causing a leak of crude into the water.
Petty Officer Steve Lehmann of the U.S. Coast Guard said 2 people were sent into the water when the GI 102A oil production platform owned by Arena off Port Fourchon, La. caught fire.
Coast Guard officials said it was at about 8 a.m. that watchstanders at the Eighth Coast Guard District were notified by workers aboard the Grand Isle Block 115 platform that the GI 102A production platform, owned by Arena, was on fire.
The 2 men who were on the platform used a life capsule to escape the blaze and were rescued by a nearby fishing vessel and then taken by the Coast Guard to West Jefferson in Marrero, he said.
The Coast Guard has established a 1,000 yard security zone around the platform. There is also a temporary flight restriction 5 nautical miles around the platform and up to 5,000 feet, according to a Coast Guard news release.
After it received the report, the Coast Guard launched the following air and sea rescue vessels:
- MH-65C helicopter and crew from Air Station, New Orleans
- MH-65C helicopter and crew from Air Station, Houston, Texas
- HC-144 Ocean Sentry and crew from Aviation Training Center, Mobile, Alabama
- Coast Guard Cutter Sturgeon, an 87-foot protector class patrol boat homeported in Grand Isle, Louisiana.
See video here: http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2011/03/gulf_oil_rig_fire_rescue_raw_v.html
