Firefighters battle Tennessee oil well blaze

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An eastern Tennessee oil and natural gas well erupted in flames sparked by a pickup truck Wednesday morning, the owner of the well's operator, Walden Resources, said.

Firefighters were keeping the blaze in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, contained while a crew from oil field firefighting company Wild Well Control Inc of Houston was flying to the site, said Walden Resources owner Dan Potts.

"It's pretty strong," Potts said of the blaze. "It's a wild one."

One person received first-degree burns from the fire and residents within a half-mile of the blaze, which could be seen from miles away, were evacuated to an area church, according to local television and newspaper reports.

A spokeswoman for the state's Environmental and Conservation Department said an interceptor trench had been dug to contain oil coming from the well and booms were in place to prevent it from reaching a nearby creek.

Potts said the drilling crew hit natural gas Tuesday afternoon, but a blowout prevention device failed and gas began flowing uncontrolled from the well. Oil began flowing from the well later Tuesday.

The blaze was ignited Wednesday morning while crews were trying to cap the well, he said. Either the truck's engine drew in gas and set off the blaze or the engine backfired, he said.

U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigators determined the deadly March 2005 BP Texas City refinery explosion was touched off by a diesel pickup truck engine taking in hydrocarbon vapor.

Wild Well Control's headquarters in Houston referred all calls to Walden.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba)