CBC

(If I read this correctly, I believe a "pumpjack" has exploded. And I haven't got a clue where the reporter is coming from in calling this area remote: it's in the centre of a heavily-populated area!)

Wed May 9, 2:44 pm

Flash fire injures six

A flash fire in a remote area of central Alberta has left six workers injured. The explosion happened about six kilometres east of Blackfalds. Red Deer RCMP constable Dan Doyle says a battery exploded at an industrial site in an agricultural area off a gravel highway. The batteries are used to clean and treat oil before it is put into a pipeline. Doyle is unsure of the extent of the injuries or how many people were airlifted to hospital.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), May 09, 2001

Answers

Canoe

The explosion happened about 11 a.m. while a tank at the site was being serviced, said Cpl. Terry Best of the Red Deer RCMP rural detachment.

"There were a group of employees inspecting a tank of some sort," Best said. "There was an electrical short from an extension cord they were using for the trouble light and the electrical short caused an explosion inside the tank.

"I believe it was from inside the tank and the employees were blown away from the site of the explosion."

The battery, owned by NAL Resources of Calgary, is located about 10 kilometres east of Blackfalds.

Such batteries clean and treat oil or gas before it is put into a pipeline.

Jonathan Lexier of NAL Resources said the battery had been shut down during the maintenance, so no fumes or leaks got into the environment.

"The facility was shut down for scheduled maintenance at the time. It was not processing hydrocarbons. It was immediately secured. At no time were nearby residents or the general public in danger," he said in an interview from Calgary.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), May 09, 2001.