Pad Fire North Of Keene, ND -- July 24, 2021

Because I did not want to incorrectly identify a pad fire at the wrong location (and the operator by association), I pulled the original post regarding that pad fire off the blog.

A reader sent me a note saying the rig in the photo is a workover rig and would not show up on the NDIC map as a drilling rig. 

I thought it was a workover rig at the time I posted the original note and should have not gone further with trying to locate the pad based on that error. It was a huge rookie mistake on my part.

So, the original post has been pulled. [To complete the story, a reader went by the pad I identified in the original post and said there was no fire and there had been no fire at that site. The reader suggested where the pad was likely to be, but I won't post that until / unless confirmed by other sources. But my hunch: the reader has it right; I was wrong.]

Here are the photos again taken "north of Keene" and posted on Facebook. Apparently the photos were taken about 10:37 p.m., Thursday night, July 22, 2021.

The photos:

I searched the local newspapers for any oil fires in this area. I couldn't find the story Thursday night. But  Friday night, via twitter, I found the story. 

The link is to The Bismarck Tribune (https://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/crews-respond-to-fire-at-mckenzie-county-oil-well-site/article_c1f9e4be-5ec4-58c3-8a02-19f52622f290.html): the story may be behind a paywall but I was able to capture the story before I lost it:

The US Forest Service is monitroing an active fire on an oil well site just south of Lake Sakakawea in McKenzie County (and north of Keene, ND).

No injuries had been reported, according to a news release from the Dakota Prairie Grasslands office. The fire was contained to the well pad and no surface grassland or groundwater resources were affected Friday evening. Response teams are working to manage the incident.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

More at the link.

So, we're at square one. The pad fire could be at any number of locations north of Keene, ND, and south of the lake.