Four rescued after fire at offshore oil platform

NEW ORLEANS, La. (FOX 13) - An oil production platform caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico just south of Louisiana early Thursday and the Coast Guard had to rescue four people who jumped off the platform into the water.

The fire was reported around 2:30 a.m. at an oil production platform about 80 miles south of Grand Isle.

The Coast Guard responded and was able to pluck four people from the water who had tried to escape the fire. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

Renaissance Offshore issued the following statement Thursday afternoon:

At approximately 2:30am CST this morning, January 5, 2017, a fire broke out on the Ship Shoal 266 A platform owned by Renaissance Offshore, LLC. Initial efforts were made by the crew to extinguish the fire, however the decision was made to discontinue those efforts and abandon the platform due to heavy smoke. All four crew members onboard safely evacuated from the platform aboard a life raft and were recovered by a field vessel that had been dispatched to the location. The crew has arrived safely onshore and it has been confirmed that they suffered no injuries. The fire was completely extinguished at approximately 5:50am CST. Company and BSEE personnel boarded the platform at 1:45pm CST this afternoon and confirmed the ignition source was extinguished and all hyrdocarbons are secure.