Oil Rig Fire In Gulf of Mexico

50 miles off the coast of Grand Isle, Louisiana, a non-producing GI 102A oil platform owned by Arena Offshore caught fire Sunday morning.

Two men were aboard the temporarily defunct rig and were rescued by a good Samaritan vessel, the HDS Stormridge when found floating in a life capsule in the water trying to escape the platform fire.

The U.S. Coast Guard then responded by hoisting the only 2 men who were aboard the rig from the rescue ship by helicopter and brought them to the West Jefferson Medical Center in Louisiana where they were evaluated and believed to be without injury, though there is no official report to confirm their condition.

The small platform sits in 257 feet of water and was easily extinguished after a few hours of first being reported. Arena had retained firefighters to maintain watch on the rig that has been out of production for over 2 weeks.

There is no case of oil spill or other environmental pollution blamed to the incident.

Investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) is currently underway to determine the cause of the blaze.