Oil Facilities Not Threatened
Update: Fire mostly out – video added. Scroll down.
A BUILDING FIRE THAT IS CLASSED AS A "MAJOR EMERGENCY" is burning at a ConocoPhillips oil refinery in Wilmington, California.
KTLA-TV
The fire was reported at 4:20 am Pacific when a passer-by spotted an orange glow in a 2nd-story window of the refinery's administration building. The first units found fire showing on the top floor of the 2-story building that had already extended into the attic.
The building is about 300 ft. long and 75 ft. wide, but is located far enough from the refinery operations that they are not endangered by the blaze.
Shortly after beginning fire operations, a portion of the roof collapsed and all interior operations were stopped. Aerial streams are now in service with about 150 FF's on the scene.
The fire is still burning at the time of this posting, so no solid information has been released yet. Firegeezer will update this report when more comes available.
KTLA-TV has the early REPORT.
Google Street View of the fire building (above). It is the building at
the center top of the satellite view (below)
Update, 2 pm Pacific:
The fire was knocked down about four hours after initial attack, however units are still on the scene working the hot spots and pockets.
The tile-roofed building is believed to be at least 100 years old and video shows extensive damage to a large portion of it.
KTLA-TV added:
The blaze was confined to the free-standing office building, and did not affect any other parts of the facility. Fire officials stressed that it was an ordinary structure fire, and did not involve any hazardous materials.
The LAFD worked in a unified command with ConocoPhillips to shut down utilities and monitor some computer equipment in the basement of the affected building.
ConocoPhillips spokesperson Betsy Brien said the fire would not impact shipments or the refinery process. "We do have contingency plans in place so we will be able to operate," Brien said.
The plant refines crude oil to gasoline, which is then delivered across California, Nevada and Arizona. Brien said the burned building is used for administrative functions, such as billing.
KCBS-TV posted fire footage in this video report:
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