A large fire at an oil refinery lit up the southern California sky, sending flames soaring, smoke billowing and neighbors indoors. The fire broke out around 9:30 p.m. Thursday at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery near L.A., sending a fireball into the air.
Chevron, which has its own fire department on site, called it an isolated incident. As of Friday morning, first responders have contained the fire.
The company said all employees and contractors are safe and accounted for and noted that “no exceedances have been detected by the facilities fence line monitoring system.”
There were no evacuation orders. However, officials in Manhattan Beach, a neighboring coastal city, did urge residents to shelter indoors as a precaution.
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The company
The El Segundo facility is the largest refinery on the West Coast, with more than a thousand miles of pipeline and the capacity to process nearly 300,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
It covers around 1,000 acres and supplies approximately 20% of all motor vehicle fuels and 40% of the jet fuel consumed in Southern California.
The refinery is also located just south of the Los Angeles International Airport. However, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the fire did not impact the airport.
“LAFD stands at the ready to assist with any mutual aid request. There is no known impact to LAX at this time,” Bass said on social media. “We will continue to monitor this situation.”
The aftermath
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was briefed on the fire. His office posted on X saying, “Our office is coordinating in real time with local and state agencies to protect the surrounding community and ensure public safety.”
Investigators are working to determine what sparked the fire.
