18-wheeler explodes at San Antonio refinery

WFAA ^ | 05 may 2010 | Not given...

[TXnMA]

SAN ANTONIO -- An 18-wheeler being loaded with fuel at a San Antonio refinery has exploded.

Television stations showed footage Wednesday of an enormous black plume spewing from the AGE Refining Inc. unit on the city's southeast side.

Refinery marketing director Jeff Morrow says the truck exploded late Wednesday morning at the facility that refines gas and jet fuel, but he had no other details.

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood told KENS-TV that the fire had spread to the refining facility, and authorities were trying to assess whether neighbors should be evacuated.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Not entirely true and that’s why I “speculate”. Vapor control is a requirement in this instance.

I have recently reported several local instances of trucks loading over gasoline vapors while not connected to the vapor control system at our terminal. This is a violation of Federal Law but if the drivers can get away with it and save time...they will!

Had to install BIG signs telling the drivers that they are in violation and that we will report them.

As it regards this issue, we’ll have to wait for the forensics to point the accusatory finger...

[AbolishCSEU]

MMMMMMM-MMMMMMMMM-MMMMMMMMMM

Six Bucks A-Gallon

[IMR 4350]

This will be a local investigation, not Fed.

[Hoodat]

Was a cell phone involved?

Video: Cellphone causes Tanker explosion

[IMR 4350]

The price at the pump depends on the amt. of refining capacity lost or the ability to deliver the product.

[chooseascreennamepat]

Sorry, but I don’t consider $3.38 close to $4.00.

[goodnesswins]

YEAH...what YOU said....idiots in charge.

[Pikachu_Dad]

At least.

[TXnMA]

Comments from some folks who knew that whole story said it was a lighter, and the dummy atop the truck used it for a light to see how much was in the tank.

I went through the video frame-by-frame. Some comments / questions:

• The initial ignition was a bright blue flash

• Did either of those two guys survive?

• Was anyone else involved??

• After the ?driver? left the burning guy, he went to the pumps. What was he doing? Getting an extinguisher?

• What were those shiny, colored balls that were bouncing/flying around?

• Where / when did this happen?

• Do you have / know of a link to the actual story?

BTW, today, Rush read a report that said the truck in SA had "just been driven up onto a loading platform"...

[GOPJ]

Oh, no! Now Obama will have to call out the troops and watch the tanker burn.

Nah - they'll only call the troops in if a tea party member drops a gum wrapper on the ground...

[GOPJ]

We were hoping for flying unicorns that crapped skittles. We got nationalized health care.

I like it...

[rawcatslyentist]

Here's an extra layer of foil.

Open top flatbed semi, with mortar/rpg crews, attacking Pasadena TX refineries from I-10. They could cripple us in minutes.

We are not at war with isSlime, but it has been at war with us for 1200 years before we were a nation!

[SoldierDad]

And, to perhaps a lesser degree, the amount that they can get away with increasing just because.

[2harddrive]

Jihadist Terror?

[greeneyes]

It sure seems like something is going on doesn’t it?

[TXnMA]

No. See #30.. Refinery fires occur almost weekly...

This was a small fire at a small, isolated refinery; unlikely to be terror-related... See #60.

[FarRightFanatic]

I have to agree with you. My husband works at a refinery, so we watch reports like this with extra interest. He wants to know what happened, how it happened, and how he can do his best to avoid this type of thing at his job. Yes, we all know that refining oil is dangerous and loading/unloading trucks is dangerous, too, but there have been MANY refinery or oil business related accidents and incidents in the last few months, more than I can ever remember in the last 9 1/2 years he’s been working there.

Believe me, something is going on. I don’t know what it is. Maybe they are probing to see what the response will be to these smaller explosions. Maybe they are going to use an explosion like this as a diversion to put something larger into motion. I don’t know, but it makes me really nervous.

[FarRightFanatic]

“I do not think it is conspiracy-minded at all to think Al-Queda would target refineries, nor do I think it is strange to hear about so many fires explosions and attempted bombings in one month and think “terrorism”.”

You’re spot on. You wouldn’t believe the security measures put into place at refineries after September 11.

[Nitehawk0325]

I see your point of view and raise you. I transport hazardous waste in the western states and more and more, I'm seeing foreign born people driving trucks hauling gasoline, fuel, fertilizer and hazardous waste. The federal and state governments are making it very difficult for legal citizens to keep their drivers’ licenses by making new laws involving moving violations and citations for mechanical problems.
The feds have just enacted a new point system for commercial drivers. They are going back two years for simple fix it tickets and have determined a point system that will get a driver either fired from his/her company for just one speeding ticket or the companies’ insurance company just won't cover that driver anymore.
I don't totally understand the whole system yet but I know if the feds are enacting it, it won't be good.
There is also a problem with police stopping more company and owner operator trucks from this country than trucks coming from across the borders. The police know that if a citizen of the United States gets a ticket, they are more likely to receive the money from that driver than if a foreign driver is ticketed. Foreign drivers are more apt to either not pay the ticket, abandon the truck red tagged by the police or just come back into the states with a different license.
People's safety is a main concern to most drivers and Joe Citizen better be looking in their rear view mirrors hoping the truck's license plates are not from Mexico.

[CriticalJ]

“Multiple-part Reichtag fire? “

Nice. How appropriate. I am reading the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.