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A call-in interview to WBAP from "James", Dallas, TX, who was a roughneck on the Deepwater Horizon and one of the survivors. A very detailed and technicaql explanation from a pro. The interview was posted on "Drilling Ahead: A Social Network of Gas and Oil Professionals."

Regular WUWT commenter Jimmy Haigh, a geologist by trade, sends along a PDF that is a compilation of on the scene photos taken right after the explosion and in the following two days. I’ve converted it to web format. These were taken by people on the scene during the rescue and firefighting operation. There’s also a narrative, done by a person “in the know”. You won’t find this at AP or Reuters.Taken shortly after the explosion. Note the mast is still intact, visible through the flames.

Congress Investigating Oil Rig ExplosionHouse lawmakers investigating oil rig explosion, seek documents from BP and Transocean The Associated Press By FREDERIC J. FROMMER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON April 27, 2010 (AP) Lawmakers on Tuesday asked the owner and operator of the oil rig that exploded last week in the Gulf of Mexico for documents as part of a congressional investigation into the accident. The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, and the chairman of the committee's investigations subcommittee, Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, made the request in letters to Transocean Ltd.,...

As the Deepwater Horizon's well continued to gush 42,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, response teams that were unable on Sunday to seal off the wellhead about a mile underwater turned their attention to containing the spill at its source. Officials at BP, responsible for the environmental clean-up efforts as the rig's lease operator, said they were engineering a system to lower a dome-like structure over the well to capture the oil and funnel it to a collection tank on the surface..... Efforts to staunch the flow were being complicated by the sheer depths...

Matt Gumbel, 34, of Oak Harbor passed away at 2:45 a.m. Saturday from complications related to burns on two-thirds of his body. Gumbel was severely injured in an April 2 fire at the Anacortes Tersoro Refinery...

The more you read about the tragedy that is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil rig fire, the more you realize the magnitude and the symbolism of what is happening. Obviously the loss of life is a reminder of the risks that those in the oil industry take on a daily basis to bring us products that we take for granted. To a larger extent the history of this rig is a reminder of the type of entrepreneurial spirit that has made this country great. It represent the same type of spirit that Horatio Alger...

NEW ORLEANS – A deepwater oil platform that burned for more than a day after a massive explosion sank into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, creating the potential for a major spill as it underscored the slim chances that the 11 workers still missing survived. The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon, which burned violently until the gulf itself extinguished the fire, could unleash more than 300,000 of gallons of crude a day into the water. The environmental hazards would be greatest if the spill were to reach the Louisiana coast, some 50 miles away. Crews searched by air and...

At approximately 10 p.m. (CST) Tuesday night, an explosion rocked Transocean's Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the search continues for 11 workers still missing following what could be one of the nation's deadliest offshore drilling incidents of the past half-century. Seventeen people were injured in the blast and taken to hospitals earlier Wednesday. Yesterday, four workers were treated at West Jefferson Hospital, while another worker was treated at the University of South Alabama Medical Center's burn unit. Five others were undergoing evaluation at the facility in Mobile, Alabama....

NEAR VENICE, La. – At least seven people have been critically injured and 11 are missing following an explosion and fire aboard a mobile offshore drilling unit approximately 50 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident occurred around 10 p.m. Tuesday on the Deepwater Horizon. As of 5 p.m., officials said the fire continues to burn on the water and on the rig. Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters are searching for those reported missing. Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry said at one point the fire was so large and intense that...

There is nothing more despicable than using the misfortune and tragedy of others for your own personal gain, and yet we are subjected to this type of crass spectacle all too often by our very own elected representatives. The latest example is the terrible coal mine accident this week in West Virginia where at least 25 miners were killed and hope is fading for several others who are still trapped. With the nation riveted on the rescue efforts and prayers going out for the families of those lost and the men still trapped, several of our esteemed members of Congress...

The death toll from the massive explosion at a sprawling coal mine in West Virginia rose to 25 early Tuesday, making it the deadliest U.S. mining disaster in 25 years. Crews halted their efforts to reach four miners still unaccounted for at the Upper Big Branch Mine following the blast Monday afternoon. Concentrations of methane and carbon monoxide inside the mine made it a safety risk for crews to proceed, said Kevin Stricklin of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration at a 2 a.m. briefing to reporters. Officials planned to drill bore holes from the surface 1,200 feet into...

Report: 6 dead in W. Va. coal mine blast 21 unaccounted for; emergency crews on the scene BREAKING NEWS msnbc.com staff and news service reports updated less than 1 minute ago CHARLESTON, W.Va. - An explosion at an underground West Virginia coal mine on Monday killed at least six people and left 21 unaccounted for, a state mining official said. The accident happened around 4:30 Monday afternoon at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, about 30 miles south of Charleston. The West Virginia state police confirmed an "incident," but had no further information.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Massey Energy says an explosion has occurred at one of its underground West Virginia coal mines but did not say if there were injuries or if any miners are trapped. The company says the explosion happened at its Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, about 30 miles south of Charleston. The company did not provide details on the extent of the damage.

SEATTLE -- A fifth victim has died following a fiery blast at the Tesoro Refinery. On Friday night, Tesoro officials announced Donna Van Druemel, 36, succumbed to her injuries at Harborview Medical Center at approximately 7 p.m. Druemel was one of four workers who were airlifted to the hospital with burns covering most of their bodies. Another victim, 29-year-old Kathryn Powell, died at the hospital Friday morning. Doctors said she had sustained severe burns, and her husband reportedly appeared to be in a state of shock. Two others are being treated at the hospital. Matt Gumble, 34, and Lew Janz,...

ANACORTES, Wash. - An explosion and fire at a Washington state oil refinery shook homes and shot flames into the night sky early Friday, killing five people and critically injuring two others. The fire struck the Tesoro Corp. refinery in Anacortes, about 70 miles north of Seattle on Puget Sound, at about 12:30 a.m., the company said. The blaze occurred while maintenance work was being performed and was extinguished in about 90 minutes. Four workers -- two women and two men -- were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, about 70 miles south of the refinery, with severe burns....

ANACORTES, Wash. — An explosion and fire at a Washington state oil refinery shook homes and shot flames into the night sky early Friday, killing four people and critically injuring three others. The fire struck the Tesoro Corp. refinery in Anacortes, about 70 miles north of Seattle on Puget Sound, at about 12:30 a.m., the company said. The blaze occurred while maintenance work was being performed and was extinguished in about 90 minutes. Three employees are hospitalized with major burns over the majority of their bodies. Susan Gregg-Hanson, a spokeswoman for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said they are one...

ANACORTES, Wash. - Three people have died in an early morning explosion at the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes. Four workers have been injured and taken to the hospital. Greg Wright, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Tesoro, tells KING 5 News that three workers were killed in the refinery explosion. At one point, a number of workers were missing but Wright says all workers are now accounted for. The blaze started in a naptha unit of the complex.

Speculation Focuses on N.Korean Semi-Submersibles As more evidence surfaces about the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan on Friday, speculation is increasingly focusing on a possible attack from one of the North Korean semi-submersibles reportedly operated by crack teams and capable of carrying two torpedoes or mines. Semi-submersible vessels weigh less than 300 tons and are smaller than submarines. The waters where the Cheonan sank are only 20 m to 30 m deep and difficult for North Korea's mainstay 1,800 ton Romeo class submarines to negotiate. North Korea allegedly uses the semi-submersibles when transporting spies on infiltration missions into South...

The last call Matt Augustson might have expected on his business trip to Europe was the one from Westgate Pet Clinic in Minneapolis. "They said, 'We have your dog and she seems to be OK, but she's a little singed,'" Augustson said. "I thought, 'Why do you have her and why is she singed?" That's when I started to put 2 and 2 together." Augustson returned to the Twin Cities Wednesday to begin putting the rest of his and his wife Jen's lives together. A natural gas leak and explosion destroyed their Edina home Tuesday and left them with their...

CASPER, Wyo. (Associated Press) -- An investigation is under way into an explosion that leveled a Wyoming home, leaving an apparently suicidal man dead and three police officers injured. Police received a call Saturday morning about a suicidal person in a house who had disconnected the gas lines. Officers evacuated the neighborhood and set up roadblocks shortly before the blast occurred, just after noon. Fire crews found 44-year-old Michael Lesher in the basement of the collapsed home still breathing at about 6 p.m. He was transported to Wyoming Medical Center, where he died a few hours later.