YATES CENTER ? Officials on Wednesday released the names of the two people who were killed when oil tank explosions in rural southeast Kansas sparked a raging fire.

Richard Cookson, 61, of Toronto, Kan., and Tracy Newman, 68, of Quincy, were killed in the blasts Tuesday morning, Woodson County Sheriff David Waddell said.

Authorities were dispatched to the oilfield about 10 miles west of Yates Center Tuesday morning, where numerous crude oil tanks were engulfed in flames.

The two victims’ bodies were discovered when the fire was extinguished, Waddell said.

The state fire marshal’s office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were investigating the explosion.