Abstract: On August 16, 2002, Employee #1, an oil well operator, was near the wellhouse door of oil well #A-22 when it was restarted after six days of being shut down and cooled down to 40 degrees F. The well had been restarted without bleeding off the high pressure in the outer annulus and, as the well heated back to its normal operating temperature of 120 degrees, the thermal expansion raised the outer annulus pressure to well beyond its 5,380 psi bursting strength. At 7,700 psi, the outer annulus burst and the explosion broke a gas line. This released compressed natural gas at 2,000 psi, which immediately created a fire. Employee #1 sustained broken bones and burns and was flown by air ambulance to Anchorage, AK and then was later transferred to Seattle, WA for medical care.