Massive explosion at refinery rocks El Segundo

The company did not say whether the incident would affect its operations or detail the extent of the damage.

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A FIRE broke out at Chevron's refinery in El Segundo after a massive explosion. The blast rocked the city.

(CARLIN STIEHL Los Angeles Times)

While the company said there were no “exceedances” recorded along its fence-line air quality motioning system, air quality officials said there were some spikes of dangerous chemicals detected.

The monitors surrounding the refinery recorded elevated levels of volatile organic compounds, quickly vaporizing chemicals that can cause a wide range of adverse health effects when inhaled, such as headaches and irritated airways, according to South Coast Air Quality Management District Executive Director Wayne Nastri. Prolonged exposure to some of these pollutants, such as benzene and formaldehyde, can increase the risk of developing certain types of cancers.

Nastri said this pollution had dropped to normal or below-normal levels between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Friday.

Nastri said the fire began in the refinery’s hydrocracking unit, equipment that produces jet fuel and diesel.

David Campbell, field director with USW Local 675, said the fire broke out in the refinery’s Isomax complex, which converts gas oil into higher-value products like jet fuel.

“We've definitely had fires at the Isomax before, I couldn't tell you the year, but this is one of the more spectacular fires,” Campbell said in a phone interview Friday morning. The union represents proprietary employees of Chevron, including some who were working at the plant at the time of the explosion. Campbell spoke with one of them, who confirmed that no one was injured.

Authorities are “going to investigate what caused the accident,” he said, but first “they need to either block or stop the fuel that’s going to the fire before they put the fire out. Obviously if you put the fire out but don’t stop the fuel, you're in danger of there being another explosion.”