Yesterday, an explosion of some kind rocked the Chevron Richmond Refinery, sending giant plumes of smoke miles into the air, and that could be seen from almost all parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. NBC News Bay Area ran a video hangout live stream on Monday that featured an overhead view of the fire in progress:
Chevron has posted a video of the statement from the Richmond Refinery Manager’s press conference. That’s here:
August 7, 2012, 7:15 a.m. PDT
The main fire has now been extinguished. Safety officials are allowing a small controlled burn as a safety measure to reduce pressure. This is helping to ensure more hydrocarbons don’t escape. This is similar in concept to how refineries utilize flares.The shelter in place was ended by Contra Costa County Health Services at 11:31 p.m. last night. The Refinery also ended our shelter in place by 11:49 p.m. last evening.
All employees and contractors are safely accounted for. Three employees sustained minor injuries and were treated on site.
August 6, 2012, 11:00 p.m. PDT
Update: The fire at Chevron’s Richmond, California Refinery has been contained.
The exact cause of the fire is still not known as of this writing. Stay tuned.
Tasion Tasion Kwamilele