By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
A fire in an oil refinery very close to the Long Beach boundary line caused a lot of concern among nearby residents, but no one was injured. The fire took place last Friday, September 25 at the Tesoro Refinery, 2101 East Pacific Coast Highway, in Wilmington.
Responding to a call from the refinery, 201 Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters and paramedics began arriving at 5:04am to work with 35 Tesoro Fire Brigade firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Ladder pipe equipment capable of delivering 1,000 gallons of water per minute and portable monitors (large nozzles) were put into operation immediately to apply a significant amount of water to the fire quickly. A large, black column of smoke could be seen rising from the refinery from miles away. Citizens and school children within a one-mile radius of the refinery were advised to stay indoors while the fire raged. It took the fire crews three hours and 39 minutes to knock down the flames.
Several Long Beach Unified School District sites were directed to keep their students indoors until the smoke cleared. Tesoro officials also notified the office of 7th District Long Beach City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes-Uranga. “A fire that close to Long Beach city limits impacts everyone in the city, but predominantly the residents in the West Long Beach area,” Reyes-Uranga said. “The fire was put out quickly, but AQMD (the Air Quality Management District) is monitoring the area consistently to make sure there are no toxins in the air.”
Reyes-Uranga, who sits on the governing board of the South Coast AQMD, said that sometimes toxins remain in the air for days after a fire is extinguished. “Initially during a fire there is always an impact to air quality,” she said. “But we are concerned about possible lasting effects. They (AQMD personnel) are also going to the refinery site to make sure there are not any ongoing issues that could make this happen again.”
Reyes-Uranga said Tesoro officials are very effective in contacting her office about incidents that could impact the public’s health. “I am very glad the firefighters were able to extinguish the fire so quickly,” she said.
Gavin McKiernan, vice president of the Wrigley Association, said that residents of Long Beach’s Wrigley District could see the smoke from the refinery fire last Friday morning. He added that Reyes-Uranga’s office had phoned Wrigley Association members to notify them about the blaze. McKiernan noted that, even though the Wrigley District is slightly more than a mile away from the refinery, the association advised residents to limit their outdoor activities until the fire was extinguished. “They (refinery officials) didn’t expect any air problems, but of course— my comment not theirs— when chemicals and buildings burn, it isn’t always obvious what has been released into the air until later.”
According to AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood, air samples taken from around the refinery after the fire was extinguished revealed only normal levels of toxins. He said it was possible that toxin levels had increased while the fire burned, but by mid-morning they had dropped to levels that are normal for Southern California.
“The fire broke out in the coking station at Tesoro’s Wilmington Refinery,” said Lynn Westfall, Tesoro’s senior vice president of External Affairs, from her office in San Antonio, Texas. “The cause is under investigation, and the amount of damage to the affected area is unknown at this time. The plant is still operational, but at a reduced capacity.”
According to a September 25 Wall Street Journal report, the fire caused wholesale gasoline prices to spike by about 20 percent per gallon in the Los Angeles area. The cost of gasoline at the pump was not affected however. Retail gasoline prices have been dropping in the last few weeks, as they usually do when the summer driving season ends. As a result, many refineries cut back production and plan shutdowns this time of year to do routine maintenance of their equipment.
The Tesoro Corporation, based in San Antonio, operates seven refineries in western states that process a combined total of approximately 665,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Tesoro purchased the 300-acre Wilmington refinery from the Shell Oil Company in May 2007. At full capacity, the refinery processes approximately 97,000 barrels of crude oil each day. The oil comes from California’s San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles Basin, South America and other international sources via the Port of Long Beach.
The Wilmington refinery employs approximately 500 people and generates about $43 million annually in salaries, wages and property taxes. It manufactures gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuels, petroleum coke, and fuel oil.
The Tesoro Corporation retail system includes more than 870 branded gas stations, of which 380 are company operated under the Tesoro, Shell, Mirastar and USA gasoline brands.
