Colo. Oil And Gas Fires And Explosions Killed 4 This Year: Post

ACROSS COLORADO -- In the eight months since the fatal home gas explosion in Firestone, 12 oil and gas explosions have occurred across the state, many of them injuring workers, and in two cases killing them, according to a Denver Post analysis. The Post found a gap in regulatory jurisdiction that means that neither the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission nor the federal National Transportation Safety Board have authority to "levy penalties or look at the accident from a criminal perspective,"according to a statement by an NTSB spokesman.

On April 17 , a home on Twilight Avenue in Firestone suddenly exploded and collapsed, killing two brothers in law, Mark Martinez and his brother-in-law, Joseph Irwin III, and injuring schoolteacher Erin Martinez and a child. The explosion was blamed on an Anadarko-operated "severed and uncapped flowline" connected to a gas well 200 feet away from the home.

Gov. John Hickenlooper issued an order for inspection of wells across Colorado. Oil and gas companies analyzed almost 121,000 underground lines within 1,000 feet of buildings and found 428 segments failed integrity tests, the Post reported.

Since the Firestone explosion, the Post found more oil and gas fire and explosion incidents:

May 8 A worker was injured when fumes from a Synergy Resources Corp. tank blew up near Greeley.

May 25 An Andarko tank exploded near Mead, killing one worker and injuring two others.

June 19 A worker was injured after a fire at Great Western Operating Company in Weld Co.

Sept. 11 A well pad caught fire at a Great Western facility in Weld County. No injuries were reported.

Sept. 12 A lightning strike led to an explosion at Berry Petroleum in Garfield County. No injuries were reported

Oct. 12 A trucker was injured by a fire at a Great Western site near Brighton.

Nov. 2 A SRC Energy device caught fire in Weld Co. No injuries were reported

Nov. 16 A man died and two others were injured near Galeton, east of Greeley after a fire broke out during a pipeline repair.

Since the Firestone house explosion, lawsuits were filed by neighbors on Twilight Avenue and investors in Anadarko.

Read more in the Denver Post.

Image April Firestone Colorado Gas Explosion via YouTube