Explosion at Duschesne oil facility critically injures worker

DUCHESNE, Utah — An explosion at a Duchesne oil facility on Wednesday morning sent one worker to the hospital in critical condition. 

“We can confirm that there was an explosion at one of the well pads out there, and it was about 7 miles south of Roosevelt,” said Hollie Brown with Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining.

Brown said the explosion happened at an area called Skoufos Well and that OSHA was reviewing the incident. 

Additionally, Brown said that Uinta Wax Operating Facility, based out of Texas, owns the well pads.

According to Josh Phillips with Duchesne County Fire and Emergency Management, crews received a call around 7 a.m. Wednesday morning. 

“Fire crews received a page for an oil location involved fire approximately 4.3 miles east of the town of Myton, Utah. Fire crews arrived on scene and found a Workover rig, a holding tank and oil tank battery with active fire. A total of four fire engines and three fire tenders responded to the fire with a total of 18 firefighters. The fires were extinguished with no injuries to fire crews involved in the response,” said Phillips. 

Duchesne Fire reported that the explosion burned one worker from that location. Emergency responders transported him to the hospital and said he was in critical condition.

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