A man has died after an explosion at an oil rig site north of Craig.
Moffat County sheriff's investigator Jeremy Ashton says a tank that holds water left over from hydraulic fracturing exploded Thursday morning.
The Craig Daily Press (http://bit.ly/UiJfQX) reports the explosion was reported at a rig maintained by Axia Energy. Sheriff's officials say it appears Herod Industries employees were trying to offload water from another hydraulic fracturing site into the tank but couldn't because of frozen valves.
Ashton says investigators suspect the explosion happened after a propane heater was used to thaw the valves. He says the explosion may have been caused by residual oil in the tank.
The Craig Daily Press identified the man who died as 49-year-old Jon Herod of Craig.
1 dead after tank explosion in Moffat County
POSTED: 05:55 PM MST Jan 03, 2013
UPDATED: 10:37 AM MST Jan 04, 2013
Photo courtesy of Gary Cole/Craig Daily Press
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