A blowout caused a huge fire Wednesday at a sour gas well near Hythe, Alta. (CBC)The gas well that blew out and caught fire early Wednesday near Hythe, in northwest Alberta, is still burning.

A crew working at the well site called in the blowout around 3 a.m. There were no injuries. On Thursday, emergency workers were drilling a relief well nearby in a bid to decrease the gas pressure and help efforts to extinguish the fire.

Tests show the well — which is licenced as a sour gas well because of provincial regulations — is only releasing sweet gas, according to an official with the Energy Resources Conservation Board.

The initial plume of black smoke — caused by residual drilling fluid — is gone, and there are no environmental or health concerns, the spokesman added.

The incident is not worrying Les Crichton, 59, who farms about eight kilometres from the well.

"We've had oil and gas here in this area for 40 years at least, and we've never really noticed any change in our environment or anything like that," he said.

"We have no concerns at all. We just feel confident that the oil companies know what they're doing. And if there was any danger they'd let us know."

Emergency workers were also clearing the site, owned by Canadian Natural Resources Limited, on Thursday.

There's no word on when the fire might be extinguished.