A gas well just exploded in PA

[toby jo]

20. I blew a well up one time when backpacking.

I was on a 12 mile hike in a park in southeastern Ohio. I hiked in about 7 miles, it started to drizzle, I built a small fire under a tall tree, lowest branch a good 25 feet up, figuring to overnight there. I had 2 dogs with me. Now on this hike you hike over alot of the black plastic tubing and you hear leaks, like hissing. I didn't hear anything there. The trail is listed in a "Hikes in southeastern Ohio" book I bought at a gear store.

I went to get some more dry branches, and boom, the thing goes up like holy shit. It's going off like a flare, I thought maybe one of the branches I put on it had some creosote or something on it. But, after a few minutes, I realized that I had set a well off.

So, well I was pretty scared, thought the damn thing would blow the side of the hill up. But then I thought I might burn the forest down, so went and got a long log, and ran up to it, and pushed dirt around to suffocate it. It went completely out, then blew up again right in my face. So, yeah, scared like shit again and just grabbed the log for one last attempt and it went out. Like a damn light. Just - poof. Still, what the fuck? What now?

I lost my little flashlight when it went up the 2nd time so I camped out near there, figured I'd get lost on a dark night. Very long night. Hiked out, called the ranger, reported it, where it was, etc.

Thought I might get in trouble, but when I heard the ranger's voice it immediately hit me they were more concerned about them being in trouble. I let it go. Never followed through , maybe should have, it struck me like way too much red tape and didn't want the wade.

So that is how that one behaved. Now that would be the old-fashioned wells. This was about 12 years ago, before fracking. Everybody I asked said it wouldn't have blown up because it was essentially just letting off a leak.

So now you know what to expect when you blow up a gas well in the middle of the night on a campout. It's all good.