Expert teams arriving from Delhi, Mumbai to douse gas well blaze in Andhra

A team of expert firefighters and technical specialists is racing from Mumbai and Delhi to tame the roaring inferno at a gas well in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, Andhra Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday. The blaze, which erupted on Monday at the Mori-5 well following a gas leak, has shown signs of tempering, though towering flames continue to dance across the sky.

The fire, a massive jet of heat reaching 20 metres in height and 25 metres in width, was ignited around 12:40 pm near the villages of Mori and Irusumanda. While the well is owned by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), it is operated not by the Maharatna giant but by its Production Enhancement Contractor, Deep Industries Ltd, an Ahmedabad-based firm that has managed the site for the past year under a Rs 1,402-crore contract awarded in 2024.

“They have created a water umbrella to cool the temperature, but the flames are still fierce,” Konaseema joint collector T. Nisanthi told PTI. “The expert teams will arrive, assess the situation, and take all measures to douse the fire.” Sprays of water continue to bathe the surrounding trees and vegetation, reducing the intensity of the blaze compared to Monday, she added.

All available forces — from the Revenue, Police, and Fire departments to ONGC personnel, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the Red Cross — are laboring tirelessly to bring the conflagration under control. Earlier, nearly 600 residents from three nearby villages had been evacuated to safety, underscoring the scale and gravity of the emergency.

Despite the flickering flames and the threat that still lingers, authorities remain resolute, vowing to contain the fire as swiftly and safely as possible. “They will assess the situation first, and only then will they be able to provide a timeline to completely extinguish the blaze,” Nisanthi said, capturing the careful, methodical efforts underway to restore calm to the region.

With PTI inputs