On the evening of August 7, 1908 at 10 p.m., a strong fire broke out in the area of Stavropoleos-Tuicani. The fire, powered by a strong wind, destroyed four wells, three oil tanks and two large open pits full with oil. Several workers were horribly charred. Some of them perished in flames, and others remained crippled for life. The fire started from the ''Romano-Americana'' steam boiler facility. The boilers stopped working because they ran out of water. Along with these, the electric light also stopped and the boilers workers lit improvised oil-soaked fire sources. Very close to that was the eruptive oil well No. 7 Astra Romana. It had been erupting for two and a half months. Thus the explosion occurred due to the atmosphere that was loaded with gases from this well. Finally at 5 in the morning the fire was extinguished. After the blast the eruption of oil well No. 7 AR was stopped for a while in order to finish the repairing. Oil wells destroyed in the blast were:
|
Well
Name |
Spud Date |
Depth |
|
19
A SP RA Moreni Sud |
1909 |
465 |
|
26
SP RA Moreni Sud |
1906 |
244 |
|
31
SP RA Moreni Sud |
1907 |
522 |
|
7 A
AR Moreni Sud |
1907 |
489 |
Engraving on ''Universul Literar'' from 18 of August 1908
Adevărul, 20, nr. 6804, 9 august 1908
Adevărul, 20, nr. 6805, 10 august 1908
Oil well No. 21 A SP RA Moreni Sud was spud at 533 meters depth
Borehole drilling was completed on 15th of November 1908 just 3 months after the fire
In the back, 45 meters away it can be seen the wooden derrick of oil well No. 26 ''Romano-Americana'', one of the well that caught fire.
Photo from nowaday with the surface casing of oil well No. 31 SP RA Moreni Sud one of the well destroyed in that blaze
Latitude and longitude of location : 44.97915145,25.63173733
