Tuesday April 24 12:54 AM ET
Los Angeles Refinery Burns, Supplies Seen Hit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A spectacular fire at a major oil refinery outside Los Angeles sent huge plumes of thick black smoke billowing over three cities on Monday, forcing about 100,000 residents indoors and threatening a huge spike in California gas prices.

The blaze -- in a cracking unit of the 125,000 barrel per day Tosco Corp. refinery in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson -- was extinguished after three hours but hot spots and some ground fires remained, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman said.

A company spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

A Sheriff's spokesman said he assumed the plant would be closed until the fire was completely out and it was safe for people to return.

About 100,000 residents in three cities -- Carson, Wilmington and Long Beach -- were told to stay indoors with their windows closed but by mid-evening that ban was lifted.

No injuries were reported in the blaze, which broke out shortly before 5 p.m. Tosco is the largest independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products in the United States.

The cracking unit is used to break down fuel oil and is one of the major processes in turning crude oil into gasoline.

Major streets surrounding the refinery were closed off.

Gasoline industry analysts said the accident came at the worst possible time, the start of the summer driving season.

They said the blaze would likely cause a sharp spike in California gasoline prices, perhaps pushing them to record levels by the start of summer.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/114/nation/Firefighters_extinguish_ref ine:.shtml

Firefighters extinguish refinery blaze; no injuries

By Associated Press, 4/24/2001 02:11

CARSON, Calif. (AP) A fire at an oil refinery sent plumes of black smoke billowing over the Los Angeles skyline for about 2½ hours before it was extinguished. No one was injured and no evacuations were ordered.

Firefighters brought the blaze at the Tosco refinery in this South Bay suburb 15 miles south of Los Angeles under control by 7:30 p.m. Monday, said Los Angeles County supervising fire dispatcher Diana Aronson. They were expected to remain at the refinery until Tuesday mopping up.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

The fire began in the refinery's ''coker'' unit, where petroleum coke a type of coal is burned in the process of making gasoline, said Tosco spokesman Andy Perez.

The refinery produces approximately 125,000 barrels of oil per day and was running at full capacity when the blaze began. The Carson plant processes crude oil, then ships it to a Tosco refinery in nearby Wilmington where it is turned into gasoline.

Witnesses reported seeing plumes of black smoke as far as 50 miles away.

About 200 people work at the Carson plant, including operators in the coker unit. All were safely evacuated, Perez said.

Nearby residents were asked to stay inside with windows and doors closed, Perez said.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

And didn't the Energy dept say yesterday morning that if a refinery wen down the price of gas would go way up? Too much coincidence for me.( suspicious mind.)

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001