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“There is still an active fire and road closures remain in
place,” it said.
Residents near the Chevron El Segundo Refinery described feeling
a rumble, then they saw the flames.
“Pretty much the whole sky was orange,” said Sam Daugherty, who
told KABC-TV he lives 10 blocks away and began packing a bag in
a panic.
There were no injuries at the refinery and all personnel were
accounted for, the company said in a statement late Thursday,
adding that a monitoring system indicated the fire did not move
beyond the facility’s fence line. The statement did not say what
caused the fire.
The El Segundo police and fire departments did not immediately
comment on the fire, which appeared to have erupted suddenly.
LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell told KCAL-TV that fire crews
had contained the blaze to one section of the refinery.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said it was monitoring the
situation and coordinating with state and local authorities to
protect the surrounding community.
El Segundo is a beachside city located about a mile (1.6
kilometers) south of Los Angeles International Airport. LA Mayor
Karen Bass wrote in a post on X that there was no known impact
to the airport.
“LAFD stands at the ready to assist with any mutual aid
request,” she said.
A shelter-in-place order for nearby Manhattan Beach south of El
Segundo was lifted Friday.
No immediate air pollution problems were detected. An air
quality index map Friday showed good levels for the Los Angeles
area, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management
District.
The refinery covers roughly 1.5 square miles (3.9 square
kilometers) and has more than 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) of
pipelines, according to the company’s website. The refinery,
which has been in operation since 1911, can refine up to 290,000
barrels of crude oil per day, including gasoline, jet and diesel
fuels, according to the company's website.
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Golden reported from Seattle.
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