Guernsey County Well Pad Explosion/Fire

(Antrim Community Fire Department Photo: Facebook)

The quiet, peaceful rural landscape of the Antrim community located northwest of Fairview was marred by a storage tank at a well pad at about 5:45 pm Thursday, January 2.  

The Antrim Community Fire Department was the first responders on the scene that later included additional departments including Fairview and law enforcement personnel. 

Several area residents were evacuated while a safety perimeter was established and US Route 22 was closed to all traffic until shortly after noon Friday.

 At the same time, as snow started to fall, Guernsey County declared a Level 1 Snow Emergency.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.

(Fairview VFD/EMS photos: Facebook)

The owner of the pad, Gulfport Energy issued the following  press release by Friday evening:

“At approximately 5:45 pm on Thursday, January 2, 2025 a storage tank ignited that was located on a well site near Highway 22 in Guernsey County, Ohio. The automated safety controls at the wellsite were activated and secured the well and isolated the ignition to the surface area surrounding the storage tanks. The ignition has been controlled and Gulfport officials are onsite and working closely with local officials to secure the area and continue remediation efforts. There were no individuals present on location and no injuries have been reported.

“Gulfport’s priority is to protect the health and safety of the nearby residents and out of abundance of caution, those living within a defined radius were notified by local officials and requested to temporarily relocate while the remediation efforts were underway.  

“The cause of the accident is under investigation and incident impact is still being assessed. We would like to thank the local responders and ODNR for their swift response and coordination. We will issue an update as further information becomes available.”

This incident is not the first time for a major well pad explosion in eastern Ohio .  On February 15, 2018, a gas well—owned by XTO, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil—exploded near Powhatan Point. 

Once extinguished, the well continued leaking pollution into the air for nearly three weeks releasing more than 60,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere, resulting in one of the largest-ever methane leaks in the country.

Residents up to a mile and a half away could see the initial explosion, which caused the evacuation of 36 homes and about 100 people.