PHILADELPHIA--A massive fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc's oil refinery on Friday damaged the largest U.S. East Coast plant to the point that it could remain shut for an extended period, according to Philadelphia city officials and company sources.
As of late afternoon, the fire was "confined and contained," but could not be put out entirely, because a connection line feeding fuel to the tank where a combination of propane and butane was burning could not yet be shut, Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said in a press conference. The cause and extent of the damage were unclear, Murphy said.
Several explosions sent a huge fireball into the sky, engulfing the surrounding areas in smoke after 4 a.m. EDT, following the ignition of a fire that started in a tank at the 335,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refining complex, also the oldest in the Northeast.
By mid-afternoon, the city's fire department was working with PES in its response to the fire, though it was letting the flammable gases burn under control. Murphy said PES was not yet able to access a valve that would shut the connection to the tank. The fire department could not entirely extinguish the fire as long as it is being fed fuel, he said.
PES said in a statement it believed the product that was burning was "mostly propane." Local news showed large water cannons continuing to hose down the site.
Four workers were injured, according to a company statement, and treated on-site, while city emergency workers treated one person, who did not need to go to the hospital. The extent of the damage was unknown, but similar fires have shut refineries for months or years.
"It was the worst I've ever experienced," said a veteran refinery worker who was at the plant when the fire broke out. "It looked like a nuclear bomb went off. I thought we were all going to die."
The complex was still running at a reduced rate, PES said, but depending on the extent of the damage, there will be questions as to whether the company has enough money to rebuild.
Friday's incident comes just after a June 10 fire at the same refinery, which according to a source familiar with operations, affected a 50,000 bpd catalytic cracking unit.
PES said in its statement that there were three explosions at the refinery, which affected an alkylation unit. A source familiar with plant operations said one explosion occurred at a 30,000 bpd alkylation unit that uses hydrofluoric acid (HF), one of the deadliest chemicals in the refining business and a source of controversy for its use to make high-octane gasoline at plants in densely populated areas.
