WEST COTE BLANCHE, La. (TheBlaze/AP) — Coast Guard officials say they are investigating a fire at an oil drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana.
KHOU reported that two are dead, but the Associated Press reported that no one is thought to be dead from the incident. Two are reported missing and four injured as a result of Friday’s fire though. Those injured were air-lifted to a nearby hospital.
Taslin Alfonzo, spokeswoman for West Jefferson Medical Center in suburban New Orleans, said four injured workers were brought to the hospital in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns over much of their bodies.
Jefferson Parish, La., officials says the rig is not drilling at a deepwater site like the Macondo well that blew out in 2010. That blowout led to an explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts tells WWL-TV that the platform, owned by Houston-basted Black Elk Energy, is a shallow water platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It is near West Cote Blanche Bay, south of New Iberia on the south-central Louisiana coast.
The Coast Guard says it has activated a command center to investigate the fire. KHOU reported that the rig is no longer on fire.
Coast Guard Capt. Ed Cubanski told a news conference in New Orleans the well was not producing at the time and no oil was leaking. A small amount of oil spilled from the rig when workers using a torch cut into a 75-foot-long, 3-inch-wide line on the platform. Cubanski said a sheen one-half mile long and 200 yards wide was reported in the area.
“It’s not going to be an uncontrolled discharge from everything we’re getting right now,” Cubanski said.
Cubanski said the platform appeared to be structurally sound. After the April 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, that rig burned for about 36 hours before suffering structural collapse and sinking to the Gulf floor.
The Black Elk platform is in 56 feet of water. Cubanski said 28 gallons of oil were in the broken line.
The Coast Guard got the call about the fire at 8:42 a.m. CST.
A federal official in Washington said a team of environmental enforcement inspectors was flying to the scene.
This is a developing story. We will update this post as more information becomes available.





















































































































Small World
Nov. 16, 2012 at 6:56pmAh yes another crisis ….and more dead people .
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LeadNotFollow
Nov. 16, 2012 at 6:45pm.
I was wondering what disaster the Obama administration was going to cook up, to draw our attention away from the Benghazi terrorist attack.
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Small World
Nov. 16, 2012 at 6:34pmWow I thought I was being paranoid but I see we are all suspicious.
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BikerHoop
Nov. 16, 2012 at 3:22pmWell, here we go again. Another “coincidence”? I doubt it. Since BP finally settled, another reason for higher gas prices had to be found, and… voila! Another platform explodes. There apparently is no end to the lengths this so-called preezy will go to do undermine and destroy America.
The ironic part is that the people who voted for him are going to be the first to start crying when gas hits $6.00+ per gallon. Then they’ll want to trade in their obamaphone for a gallon of gas. Can’t help but wonder if they’ll be able to start purchasing gas with EBT cards.
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truthnstuff
Nov. 16, 2012 at 1:50pmOK that’s it! Let’s shut down the oil companies and sue the living crap out of them. I’m sure the POS Pivin will lead the march.
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denkat56
Nov. 16, 2012 at 1:47pmAnother case of sabotage, to further the agenda.
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karen162
Nov. 16, 2012 at 2:22pmI tend to agree. Its amazing how we went decades with nothing happening to our rigs and the safety record was pretty good. Now we have TWO fires in 4 years? That’s a bit strange.
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dosdelgados
Nov. 16, 2012 at 1:06pmLet the liberal hand-wringing begin.
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rickc34
Nov. 16, 2012 at 1:35pmWell Obama must be happy..his minions are out doing his dirty work.
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Armyduderetired
Nov. 16, 2012 at 1:06pmDoes anything suprize you? MorObamaRon already said he wants oil shut down and driving preventive gas prices. Hey we only buy food and energy only now. Bend Forward. Keep lying to yourself that Ron Paul wasn’t the best choice and couldn’t win. I quit. Just going to smoke, drink, and wait for the reaper. Seems kinda Grimm, I know.
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kruzer_mike
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:38pmI always said that we should be looking for torpedoes and mini subs in the Gulf. Who benefits from shutting down drilling in the Gulf? OPEC…which is made up of who? Islamics……
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thegreatcarnac
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:37pmDangerous job. It is a miracle they do not catch fire more often.
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red_white_blue2
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:34pmCome on Obozo—gotta get that gas price up–after all, it’s part of your “plan”~!
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DadRocked
Nov. 16, 2012 at 1:44pmHint Hint, Wink Wink: If you have a few bucks, buy a motorcycle or stock in a bike maker – If you can invest in the U.S. makers (Indian, Harley, Hodaka, Rokon or Victory). Othewise the Japanese makers (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, etc).
Fuel goes up and the bike sales will dramatically increase. Just saying…
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DadRocked
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:33pmWe can see where this is going… 2 dead + oil + offshore = Disaster.
Last Weekend Philly 5 + Chicago 3 = NO BIGGIE
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shagstar
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:20pmthis is 2 for 2 under this admin. those rigs are ideal hard targets of opportunity! the oil exec’s should pay a contractor AF to start flying CAP’S around them.
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truthsurfer
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:06pmThe kenyan and his band of thugs in tights are happy about this now he can put more restrictions on drilling and more shake down money as well as throw some more people in prison. Chances are his regime just gave this rig an exceptional rating like the BP one that blew up shortly after.
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neverending
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:01pmNow what’s holder up to?
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Geopatriot
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:00pmI smell a big RAT! I sincerely hope that a REAL investigation is accomplished and not like the previous one. My suspicion is the Administration has some involvement. Look at the timing…..BP had their initial settlement yesterday on the first incident. Who wants to see oil exploration brought to its knees? What event would start to fade into obscurity if something didn’t happen in the Gulf? Who else would be slimmy enough to pull something like this off, just to make an arguement?
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honor007
Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:37pmExactly!!!
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NSDQ
Nov. 16, 2012 at 11:54amThis happens the SAME DAY BP announces it will accept all of the charges brought forth from the Deep Horizon event … I call BS
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honor007
Nov. 16, 2012 at 11:48amEnter Francis Fox Piven~
Why do I believe nothing is what it seems??
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AmericanStrega
Nov. 16, 2012 at 11:45amWell, there go the “lower” gas prices.
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