First responders look over the site of an explosion Monday at an orphan well in Independence Township within the Wayne National Forest. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday that natural gas and crude oil came to the surface during the plugging process and ignited. Six people were injured in the blast. (Photo provided by the Reno Volunteer Fire Department)

INDEPENDENCE TWP. — Natural gas and crude oil igniting at the surface of an orphan well caused an explosion that injured six people this week in the Wayne National Forest, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday.

The blast happened Monday morning at a well off Independence Township 420. According to the statement from ODNR, a crew from Monroe Drilling Operations LLC was working to plug the well. An ODNR mineral resources inspector was also at the site.

The agency’s Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management “identified that during the plugging process natural gas and crude oil traveled up through the well to the surface of the project site and ignited, causing an explosion,” the release said.

Reno Fire Chief Jon Bradford said at the scene Monday six workers were injured, five critically. The injured were initially taken to Memorial Health System before being moved to other facilities by helicopter, he said.

The Ohio Fire Marshal’s Office and Wayne National Forest directed questions about the incident to ODNR. ODNR’s statement did not mention the condition of those injured in the explosion and a request for additional information was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

First responders look over the site of an explosion Monday at an orphan well in Independence Township within the Wayne National Forest. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday that natural gas and crude oil came to the surface during the plugging process and ignited. Six people were injured in the blast. (Photo provided by the Reno Volunteer Fire Department)

A message left at a Monroe Drilling Operations location in Woodsfield after regular business hours was not returned Tuesday evening.

Orphan wells have no known owner, and the state’s orphan well program works to plug them in an effort to “protect public health and safety, conserve natural resources, and allow the efficient development of Ohio’s oil and gas resources,” according to the program’s website.

Data on that website shows Monroe Drilling was awarded a contract to plug 16 wells in Independence Township in 2024 with a low bid of $2,089,397.94. It could not be immediately confirmed Tuesday whether the well where the explosion occurred was part of this contract, but at least some of those wells were in the Wayne National Forest and in the vicinity of Monday’s incident.