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Earlier, fire
officials said an explosion in a crude oil well at the facility
was contained on Sunday evening.
No oil rigs were involved in the incident and no employees were
present at the time of the explosion, which was recently
upgraded for new oil wells, MDM Energy, a privately held,
Texas-based company, said.
After fire officials had extinguished the first explosion, there
was another fire that after about an hour destroyed the facility
completely, MDM's chief executive, Michael Rafael, said in an
email.
Security camera footage is being reviewed as foul play is
suspected, he said, adding there was no environmental damage.
There were no injuries or crude oil leaks from the incident,
Watson Township Fire Department Chief Matt Kulesza said.
The explosion was also reported by the fire department in a
filing with Illinois Emergency Management Agency, noting that
the fire had been put out.
(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman and Vijaykumar Vedala in
Bengaluru; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Leslie Adler)
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