Lightning is most likely to blame for a fire Friday that partially destroyed an oil tank battery south of Winfield, a fire official said.
Heavy black smoke poured from the fire that broke out around 11 a.m. just west of Country Club Road and about a mile north of Strother Field. The battery consisted of four tanks, one of which was half full of oil, according to Winfield Fire Lt. Chad Mayberry.
Two fiberglass tanks ? one that held water and another that served as the gun barrel ? were destroyed. A pair of metal tanks were damaged but only a small amount of oil burned.
"Very little of the product was lost," Mayberry said. "The fiberglass tanks burned but the two metal tanks held up pretty well."
The battery is operated by Short Oil Co. The name of the landowner was not available.
Mayberry said the fire did burn for a time while fire crews obtained enough firefighting foam to extinguish the blaze. Chemical fires cannot be fought safely or effectively with conventional water hoses.
