Greene County police and fire fighters are responding to a natural gas well explosion that took place at approximately 7 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Emergency workers have been pouring into the blast area at Water Tank Road near Bald Hill Church Road and Rocky Run Road in Dunkard Township, about twenty miles southeast of Waynesburg, in Greene County, just north of Bobtown and the West Virginia border, since shortly after the explosion occurred. 

However, firefighters and other emergency workers were unable to get close enough to the Chevron drilling rig as of 9 a.m., more than two hours after the explosion occurred, because the flames and heat have been too intense.

People nearby to the explosion say they heard an extremely loud "BOOM," but weren't sure what it was at first, eventually seeing smoke shoot thousands of feet into the air. Township workers rushed to the scene as well, bringing in loads of salt to the access road, which is not easily to navigate given weather conditions.

As of now, it is still unknown if anyone was hurt in the explosion, but reporters are on the scene and waiting for word from first responders and Greene County officials. There is a rumor that one Chevron worker is unaccounted for, but nothing yet has been confirmed.

Source: Trib Live, "Chevron gas well explodes in Greene County" 11 February 2014