Tanks catch fire at eastern Utah waste oil-disposal site

VERNAL — Firefighters from several agencies on Tuesday battled a fire at an oil-field location in a remote part of Uintah County.

Crews were called out at 9:42 a.m. to the Retamco Operations site about 40 miles south of Vernal near Little Bonanza after an oil tank battery caught fire.

Uintah County Sheriff's Lt. John Laursen said that, when firefighters arrived, one tank containing crude oil was fully engulfed. The heat of the fire caused additional tanks at the site to erupt into flames, blowing the tops off the tanks.

Laursen said the site had a total of four tanks holding crude oil and three tanks containing a gasoline byproduct known as condensate. It was unclear how many tanks burned.

Firefighters, assisted by local water hauling companies, put more than 100,000 gallons of water on the fire in an attempt to control it. The fire was reportedly controlled by Tuesday evening.

Laursen said the damage to the site, which is owned by Montana-based Remtinco, is estimated at $500,000.