Posted on 02/18/2015 12:41:16 PM PST by BenLurkin
More likely 10 to 15 trucks with special units used for this type fire.
Agreed. The nature of refineries sadly find their own internal reasons for fires and explosions. Rarely sabotage.
The refinery would have it’s own fire department. So outside help was called in.
“The ExxonMobil Torrance Refinery is not one of the refineries on strike.”
Maybe someone wants them to be on strike?
Handling and processing hazardous materials is hazardous.
Wow! What a mess. My son worked there over the summer and we live within a stones throw and we didn’t hear anything.
“explosion with a small ground fire”.... hate to see what an ‘explosion with a large ground fire’ would have looked like.
That is often when a storage tank gets involved. Tough to put those out after they split open.
Norco, Louisiana, Refinery Fire - June 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBPMVbAJ56c
1 minute video, 270-foot-diameter gasoline storage tank fire, they put it out.
Trade publication OPIS, citing an unidentified source, reported that an electrostatic precipitator (ESP), which reduces fluid catalytic cracker particulates, exploded as contract workers were doing maintenance on the nearby fluid catalytic cracking unit, or FCC.
“Contractors working on the FCC to fix the expanders,” the source said, adding that an injection of ammonia on top of the flue gas stream caused a pressure buildup, which resulted in the ESP unit explosion.
The unit could take up to a year to replace, the source said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/18/refinery-blast-exxon-idUSL1N0VS1PR20150218
They are about 15 miles away.
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