Fire on oil platform in Gulf of Mexico

Coast Guard: Fire burns on oil platform in Gulf of Mexico

Wear TV,

7 January, 2017

NEW ORLEANS (AP) —

The Coast Guard and crew members of surrounding vessels were responding to a pre-dawn fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, authorities said Thursday morning.

The blaze was reported around 2:30 a.m. on the platform about 80 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana, the Coast Guard said in a statement. There were no reports of injuries.

"There are no current reports of any pollution at the moment," Coast Guard Petty Officer Third Class Travis Magee told The Associated Press by phone from New Orleans.

Four people aboard the platform evacuated into the water and were rescued by the crew of the 130-foot Mary Wyatt Milano, a supply vessel, the Coast Guard said.

Crew members aboard that boat and three other vessels were battling the blaze.

The fire was "suppressed but not extinguished," Magee said.

An HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane from Mobile, Alabama, had also just arrived at the scene, Magee said.

"They're overhead and they're getting a better view of the situation," Magee said. 

"They're assessing the current situation -- that's their role."

Clean Gulf, an oil spill response organization, was on its way to the platform early Thursday, the Coast Guard added in its statement. Clean Gulf is a non-profit oil industry cooperative that responds to spills and provides equipment to help clean them up, according to its website.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

An oil platform exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, killing 11 workers. Millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf for weeks before the oil well could be capped.