Vermilion Bay Explosion Update: Rig Fire Put Out, Oil Sheen Still Unconfirmed

(Sept. 3) -- The fire on the Vermilion 380 oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday has been successfully put out, the U.S. Coast Guard reported in an update late Thursday night. Here's a satellite image of the fire shortly after it broke out Thursday, via NASA:

According to the press release from the Coast Guard.

Mariner Energy, the owner of the platform, deployed three firefighting vessels to the scene and extinguished the fire. Coast Guard vessels and aircraft on scene saw no evidence of sheen or leaks, and Mariner Energy reported that the platform had been shut in. Responders remain vigilant for any evidence of oil on the water, and Coast Guard vessels and aircraft will continue surveillance of the area. The Coast Guard is scheduled to conduct additional searches of the area at first light, Friday, to search for any evidence of sheen.

On Friday, Surge Desk spoke to coast guard officer Steve Lehmann, who said the agency has sent out five helicopters to conduct overflights of the area around the exploded platform and was awaiting a report back.

The major concern at this point -- now that the fire has been doused and all 13 of the platform's workers have successfully been rescued -- is the possibility of a leak. Worries about a new gulf oil spill spread throughout the Web on Thursday, exacerbated by The Associated Press' report of a mile-long oil sheen, which the Coast Guard has not yet been able to confirm. Meanwhile, the incident has only intensified the debate over the Obama administration's offshore drilling moratorium.

Lehmann also noted that the site had been observed by Coast Guard vessels overnight, during which time there had been "no source of release or spill from the well."