LANE – The cause of two fires involving two nearby oil-tank batteries owned by Enerjex Resources near Lane remain undetermined. The fires occurred Friday and Monday in the 4300 and 4400 block of Finney road north of Lane. The tank batteries are about 200 yards apart, county fire marshal Alan Radcliffe said. Monday’s fire involved three oil tanks, and there was an explosion while a company employee was transferring oil from a tank to a truck, Radcliffe said. The employee wasn’t injured. “He was very lucky,” Radcliffe said. Three rural departments from Pottawatomie, Cutler and Lincoln-Ottawa-Harris townships fought the fires Monday and had them under control in approximately an hour-and-a-half, he said. The Kansas Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fires but Radcliffe said there has been no cause determined although it appears that malfunctioning in-tank heaters could have been a factor in Monday’s fire. The company cleaned up an oil spill that occurred when oil ran over a containment dike around the tank battery, he said.
Wednesday, April 17, 11 a.m.
