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Exxon Refinery Explosion Rocks Southern CaliforniaThe
blast in Torrance, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, injured
three workers and destroyed the windows of the surrounding buildings.
Authorities advised neighboring
18
February, 2015
Mayor
Patrick Furey told KNBC that residents near the refinery needed to
take precautions.
"The
most important thing is to shelter in place, stay indoors, no outdoor
activity, turn the air conditioners off, keep the windows closed,"
Furey advised.
There
was no evacuation of surrounding areas, but nearby schools were
keeping students and staff indoors immediately after the blast as a
precaution, Torrance Fire Captain Steve Deuel said.
“We
just heard this loud bang. We saw the walls cave in," witness
Daniel Wolfe told ABC7. "It was kind of scary. We thought it was
an earthquake, but it was too quick."
“It
felt like a car crash, or a car hit our house,” said resident Mac
McCarthy. “It was too abrupt, it didn’t seem like it could have
been an earthquake and then we all just ran out front and everyone
was freaking out about the fire but that was just the gas burning. If
you look passed the hedges, you can see some of the refineries
leaning over.”
David
Campbell, Treasurer and Secretary of the local chapter of United
Steelworkers, which represents workers at the plant, told Reuters the
explosion happened near a fluid catalytic cracking unit, the
processor used to convert crude oil into gasoline.
Deuel
explained the cause of the blast has not been determined. He went on
to say workers only suffered minor injuries and were treated by
paramedics, Reuters reported.
Firefighters
and refinery workers extinguished a ground fire caused by a gas leak,
and a survey of the area revealed some confined structural damage,
Deuel said, though the full extent of damage is still unknown.
"We're
in the process of stabilizing the situation and there are no other
issues happening," he told Reuters. “Excess gasoline was being
flared, or burned off, by the refinery.”
Torrance
Unified School District spokeswoman Tammy Khan told Reuters that
students from fourteen schools were ordered to shelter in and could
not go outside
“We
are taking every measure to make sure our students are safe,” Khan
told NBC4 Los Angeles
ExxonMobil
is looking into the cause of the explosion, according to Gesuina
Paras, a public and government affairs adviser at the company.
The
South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory
for any areas where residents can see or smell smoke.
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