Texaco Refinery Hit by Fire in Pipelines

More than 150 firefighters were called out early Monday morning to battle a fire at the Texaco refinery in Wilmington that took six hours to contain.

Officials said there were no injuries, and no residents were evacuated.

The fire started at 12:15 a.m. inside the pipelines of the alkylation unit, where butane and propane gas are mixed to make high-octane fuel, said Texaco spokeswoman Barbara Kornylo.

The blaze was fought by 130 Los Angeles city firefighters, 20 Long Beach firefighters and about a dozen Texaco employees.

“Right now the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are under investigation,” Kornylo said. “Our plant does continue to operate, but at a reduced capacity.”

Texaco would not say how much its daily production capacity was diminished or whether this would affect gasoline prices. Initial reports said the fire might have been caused by lightning. Investigators are still checking into that, said Los Angeles City Fire Department Battalion Chief Carlton Callaway.

Air monitoring showed no harmful emissions, Callaway added.

It was the second fire at the Texaco refinery since November. On Nov. 11, a spectacular explosion ripped through a unit that extracts sulfur from crude oil to produce gasoline and diesel fuel.