Close Menu
The Baylor Lariat
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    Trending
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects
    • Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines
    • Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18
    • Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting
    • How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings
    • Welcome Week leaders now paid in hopes of increasing numbers
    • 5 Baylor sports storylines to look forward to in 2025-26
    • About us
      • Spring 2025 Staff Page
      • Copyright Information
    • Contact
      • Contact Information
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Subscribe to The Morning Buzz
      • Department of Student Media
    • Employment
    • PDF Archives
    • RSS Feeds
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    The Baylor LariatThe Baylor Lariat
    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz
    Saturday, July 5
    • News
      • State and National News
        • State
        • National
      • Politics
        • 2025 Inauguration Page
        • Election Page
      • Homecoming Page
      • Baylor News
      • Waco Updates
      • Campus and Waco Crime
    • Arts & Life
      • Wedding Edition 2025
      • What to Do in Waco
      • Campus Culture
      • Indy and Belle
      • Sing 2025
      • Leisure and Travel
        • Leisure
        • Travel
          • Baylor in Ireland
      • Student Spotlight
      • Local Scene
        • Small Businesses
        • Social Media
      • Arts and Entertainment
        • Art
        • Fashion
        • Food
        • Literature
        • Music
        • Film and Television
    • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Points of View
      • Lariat Letters
    • Sports
      • March Madness 2025
      • Football
      • Basketball
        • Men’s Basketball
        • Women’s Basketball
      • Soccer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
      • Volleyball
      • Equestrian
      • Cross Country and Track & Field
      • Acrobatics & Tumbling
      • Tennis
      • Golf
      • Pro Sports
      • Sports Takes
      • Club Sports
    • Lariat TV News
    • Multimedia
      • Video Features
      • Podcasts
        • Don’t Feed the Bears
      • Slideshows
    • Advertising
    The Baylor Lariat
    Home»News»National

    Blast devastates California refinery

    webmasterBy webmasterFebruary 19, 2015 National No Comments4 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    A structure is damaged after an explosion in a processing facility at the ExxonMobil refinery Wednesday in Torrance, Calif. A small ground fire was quickly extinguished and the facility’s flare system was triggered for safety reasons. Two workers suffered minor injuries. Associated Press
    A structure is damaged after an explosion in a processing facility at the ExxonMobil refinery Wednesday in Torrance, Calif. A small ground fire was quickly extinguished and the facility’s flare system was triggered for safety reasons. Two workers suffered minor injuries. Associated Press

    By Tami Abdollah
    Associated Press

    TORRANCE, Calif. — An explosion devastated a section of a major refinery on Wednesday morning, raining down ash in the area and, experts say, likely helping to increase California gas prices, which have been creeping up in recent weeks.

    A huge smokestack flare — in which workers were burning off flammable product after the explosion — could be seen for miles around. Four contractors suffered minor injuries as workers fled the site of the blast, according to Exxon Mobil Corp., which owns the refinery.

    The facility, a structure several stories tall, was shattered. Crews poured water onto the structure afterward, and a fire spokesman said at midday the situation was controlled.

    The blast happened in a recently installed processing facility, and the material involved was gasoline, Fire Department spokesman Steve Deuel said. The facility’s flare system was triggered to burn off fuel that could add to the fire, Deuel said.

    Residents within a mile or two reported feeling a sharp jolt that they initially thought was an earthquake.

    Electrical contractor Cory Milsap-Harris, 21, was in a switch house next door to the blast site keeping an eye on three colleagues working 8 feet underground in a manhole. “Everything was going smooth. Next thing I hear sounded like heavy metal next door. There was a loud bang,” he said. “You could feel the building shake a little.”

    The blast reverberated in his ears despite the several layers of hearing protection he routinely wears, Milsap-Harris said. He rushed his co-workers outside, where people were running away from flames and black smoke.

    Brittney Davis, whose office is about a block from the refinery, says the blast sounded and felt like something had rammed her building.

    “The whole building shook. We couldn’t figure out what it was, but we stepped outside the door and the flames were shooting up from the refinery,” Davis said. “I could feel the heat from the flame.”

    The refinery about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles covers 750 acres, employs over a thousand people, and processes an average of 155,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produces 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline per year, according to Exxon Mobil.

    It accounts for about 8.3 percent of the statewide total capacity, according to state officials.

    The four contractors were taken to a hospital for evaluation and three were released, company spokesman Todd Spitler said. The refinery sent many workers home for the day.

    Spitler said other parts of the refinery continue to operate. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, and company officials were working with local agencies. Nearby roads were closed after the blast hit, shortly before 9 a.m., Torrance police Sgt. Paul Kranke said.

    Students at 13 nearby schools were kept indoors, said Tammy Khan of the Torrance Unified School District.

    Gas prices in California have been inching up even before the Exxon Mobil accident. It’s the second refinery in the state to have service interrupted. A Tesoro refinery in Northern California — which accounts for about 9.2 percent of the state’s total refining capacity — that was running at half speed was shut down earlier this month after the contract with the United Steelworkers union expired.

    Experts said California residents can expect to pay more at the pump.

    But “you’re not going to see another gasoline apocalypse” like after the 2012 Chevron refinery fire that sent gas prices soaring over $4 a gallon, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

    webmaster

    Keep Reading

    Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown

    Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects

    Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18

    Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting

    How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings

    Welcome Week leaders now paid in hopes of increasing numbers

    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Recent Posts
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown June 27, 2025
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects June 26, 2025
    About

    The award-winning student newspaper of Baylor University since 1900.

    Articles, photos, and other works by staff of The Baylor Lariat are Copyright © Baylor® University. All rights reserved.

    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz

    Get the latest Lariat News by just Clicking Subscribe!

    Follow the Live Coverage
    Tweets by @bulariat

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    • Featured
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Arts and Life
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.