WorldWide Drilling Resource

Tales from the Field by Jeremy C. Wire Geoconsultants, Inc. Fire in the Desert Sometimes we think a “bad” day in the field where nothing seems to go right is still better than a “good’’ day in the confines of the office. However, there are exceptions, and the tale about to be related is one of them. The setting is what was formerly the Nevada Test Site (now Nevada National Security Site) in southern Nevada, northwest of Las Vegas, where testing of nuclear devices was carried out during the 1950s, through the early 1990s. We were subcon- sultants to another consulting firm that was preparing a proposal to investigate, by geophysical methods, deep hydrogeologic conditions along the Yucca Fault, as part of a study to evaluate movement of contaminants into the regional aquifer system. One day, we met on the site with one of their consultants to plan the layout of the pro- posed field survey. It was a clear, fall day, one of those times on the desert between the heat of the summer and the onset of winter, when the weather was just perfect for fieldwork, so what could go wrong? The first hint occurred at the motor pool, when we learned the pickup requested in advance was not available, and the only vehicle we could have was a sedan. Although disappointed at this development, we reasoned a pickup was probably not needed anyway, since the proposed survey area was crisscrossed by dirt roads, not requiring four-wheel drive for access. By later in the day, we were nearly finished with our reconnaissance in a rather remote part of the survey area. Suddenly, we thought we smelled smoke coming from somewhere around the car. Looking underneath, thinking the source was some veg- etation lodged near the catalytic converter, it was evident that smoke and now flames were originating from under the hood. We quickly grabbed a small fire extinguisher from the trunk. However, by now the hood wouldn’t open because of the advancing fire, and it was useless to try to control the flames. After quickly removing our maps and briefcases from the rear seat, all we could do was stand by at a distance and watch the flames envelop the car. Be- cause of all the plastic components, in about 15 minutes it was totally consumed and reduced to a smoking hulk. By this time, the facility fire brigade, because of the clear sky, had seen the column of smoke from several miles away, arrived at the site and foamed down the remains. We hitched a ride back to the motor pool at the main entrance, and filed a report with the County Sheriff concerning the incident. We heard later that appar- ently the car had been serviced a day or two previously, and the cause was a leaking gas line connection which had been improperly tightened. So not our fault for driving on dirt roads! On the return trip to Las Vegas to catch a plane, the consul tant and I agreed this was more excitement than we needed and this was truly one really “bad” day in the field, and it would have been better to remain in the office! Jeremy Jeremy Wire may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 40 AUGUST 2017 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®