Shane Montoya News

The U.S. Coast Guard launched several assets in response to a report of a fire on board a natural gas drill platform in Cook Inlet Thursday. The Coast Guard diverted a Coast Guard Hercules HC-130 crew and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew to conduct an overflight of the Baker Platform in Cook Inlet, near Nikiski. The Coast Guard also launched the Coast Guard Cutter Mustang and the diverted the Coast Guard Cutter SPAR to the location. A five-mile, no-fly safety zone at 5,000 feet and a two-mile safety zone have been established around the platform. All four people aboard the platform were safety evacuated. "Our goal is to mitigate any potential risk to the environment," said Cmdr. Shane Montoya, the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator and acting Coast Guard Sector Anchorage commander.

Coast Guard Sector Anchorage personnel along with federal, state, local, tribal partners and industry representatives conducted mutual aid drills in Anchorage and Deadhorse, Wednesday. During the drill, participants tested their ability to establish a Unified Command, implement the North Slope Mutual Aid Agreement and deploy equipment in response to a simulated oil spill at the remote Nikaitchuq Project at Spy Island near Deadhorse. “Drills like this are important because they…