Major flare-up at Prud'homme, Sask., gas fire
Fire at gas cavern site has been burning since Saturday
Firefighters have lost some ground after a massive flare-up at the gas fire in Prud'homme, Sask.
The fire that started at the TransGas storage facility on Saturday is "contained", according to Dave Burdeniuk, spokesman for TransGas/SaskEnergy.
However, while the flames were four metres high yesterday, they're closer to 76 metres today, he said.
That's a high as the McCallum-Hill towers in downtown Regina.
At 7 a.m. CST, one of the valves on a natural gas well failed because of severe heat damage and it couldn't be turned off.
Flames aren't coming out the side of the well head like before. Instead, they're coming from the pipe that leads from the surface to the cavern underground, Burdeniuk said.
Crews are working on installing a new well head, he said.
Thirteen people who live nearby have been ordered to evacuate their homes. That order comes one day after they were allowed to return home.
Prud'homme is about 87 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.