A few weeks back, I bought from ebay three photo postcards of well fires. One of them was labeled “Gas Well Fire Monroe La.”. On the back were the dates of July 10 and July 19. I found a gas well fire in the News-Star that happened July 17th, 1951. A well 15 miles north of Sterlington caught fire and two men, Lois Smith and Bill Norris suffered first and second degree burns. Whether or not that is the above referenced fire, I don’t know.
I found a second well fire that happened somewhere in Ouachita Parish on June 16, 1917. No one was hurt, but five people almost were. Miss Wesley Drane and Katherine Wallace of Clarksville, TN were visiting Mrs. Herbert Millsaps of West Monroe when they decided to see the well. They were escorted by A.L. Green and George Gunby. After wandering all around the platform, they were driving away when the well exploded into flame. If they had still been on the platform, they would have been killed or seriously wounded. It took almost a week for the fire to be extinguished.
Ouachita Parish History Tidbits 