The governorate announced in a statement that the area will be closed and kept under constant surveillance. Measurements are also carried out continuously and their results are sent to the Mineral Resources Agency, according to Agerpres. According to the Romanian News Agency, an order was also issued for local authorities to designate a building in which residents could be housed in the event of evacuation.
Firefighters took measurements in the Oltenia settlement after a man who lives there was taken to hospital with serious burns after a stove exploded in his apartment on Friday. The explosion – which also caused significant damage to the house – was likely caused by a well drilled a week earlier in the yard.
News.ro wrote that the man noticed a gas leak two years ago, but despite informing the authorities, according to the news portal, no action was taken at the time. The newly drilled well burned for a week before an explosion occurred on Friday.
Firefighters then made several measurements, and on Sunday near the well they measured three times the value of the previous day, a methane concentration of 74 percent. The news portal wrote that the gas concentration in the basement and exterior building of the house reached 5.5 percent.
The Oltenia settlement of the village of Calobar is known as a gas reservoir, and several well drilling operations in recent years have been accompanied by gas leaks. The last similar fire in 2022, which lasted for several days, was constantly monitored by authorities, and then an order was issued to bury the well, MTI reported.
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