Authorities have identified the 14-year-old girl killed in an oil well explosion in Beauregard Parish Sunday evening, KPLC is reporting.
Zalee Day, of Ragley, died in the explosion that happened just before 5 p.m. Sunday near Cordial Lane and South Cooley Road.
Residents told the station they heard the explosion from miles away.
“The first thing I could see out of the front door of my house was a big cloud of boiling oil smoke and fire,” said Ragley resident Brenda Eddins. “I was in my house and I heard a big boom and a second boom, and then my house shook and when my house shook, I was like, ‘What is that?’ Then I knew it was something big. Beings that I’ve been from here my entire life, I felt that it was these oil tanks.”
The State Fire Marshal's Office and Louisiana State Police HazMat are assisting in the investigation of the explosion.
State Fire Marshal deputies are investigating the origin and cause of a fire and explosion at the site in Longville.
The call came in to Beauregard Parish Fire District #2 just before 5 p.m. on February 28 to the site located near Cordial Lane and S Cooley Road.
The fire was out and the agencies say there is no danger to the public.
This investigation is being conducted in partnership with the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
