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Fire at Hilcorp’s Cook Inlet Baker platform extinguished
Four workers were evacuated by helicopter Oct. 2 when a fire broke out on Hilcorp Alaska’s Baker platform in Cook Inlet’s North Middle Ground Shoal field, destroying the living quarters on the platform.
A unified command was established to respond and said in an Oct. 2 statement that primary firefighting efforts came from the Ocean Marine Services vessel Discovery, which along with the Cook Inlet Spill Prevention & Response Inc. vessel Endeavor, were on scene.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said in an Oct. 2 situation report that four vessels responded to the fire. The unified command said personnel from the Nikiski Fire Department, ADEC, the U.S. Coast Guard, CISPRI, Offshore Marine Services and Hilcorp all responded.
ADEC said the fire started in the above deck structures and was discovered by the crew onboard the platform.
In an Oct. 3 statement from the unified command Capt. Paul Mehler, federal on-scene coordinator and Coast Guard Sector Anchorage commander, said: “The Unified Command is very pleased with the response effort and can confirm no evidence of debris or hydrocarbon release to Cook Inlet.” Mehler also said that Coast Guard personnel would “remain in the area until we’re certain all safety concerns have been thoroughly addressed.”
Navigation light working An update from Hilcorp Alaska provided to Petroleum News by spokeswoman Lori Nelson in an Oct. 8 email said the Nikiski Fire Department and Hilcorp Alaska personnel boarded the platform Friday, Oct. 3 and “were able to pave the way for us to make quite a bit of progress over the weekend.”
The boarding crew verified that “all safety systems were working as they were supposed to and all electrical systems were safeguarded,” the company said in the update. “They were also able to ensure the integrity of the tankage onboard.”
ADEC said in its final situation report that no spill had been reported and that the platform had a capacity of some 10,000 gallons of petroleum products.
Two electricians boarded the Baker platform Oct. 4 “and further assessed the situation,” Hilcorp said.
“They restarted the generator and got the navigation light working again.”
The Coast Guard provided overflights of the platform over the weekend, Oct. 4-5, “and reported no anomalies.”
“Hilcorp has made no decisions regarding the restart or repair of the Baker platform,” the statement said, and there is no timeline on results of the investigation into the fire.
Previously lighthoused The Baker platform was installed for AMOCO in 1965 and prior to Hilcorp’s 2012 acquisition of Chevron’s Cook Inlet assets was operated by Chevron subsidiary Union Oil Company of California.
The state approved an abandonment plan for the Baker platform, which had been lighthoused, in early 2012. Hilcorp amended the plan later in the year saying it had decided to reactivate the platform to accommodate gas exploration.
Nelson said in an Oct. 2 email that minimal natural gas production from the platform has been shut-in.
The platform is north of the XTO-operated “A” and “C” platforms, some 18 miles northwest of Kenai.
- Kristen Nelson
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