Posted 11:14 pm Thursday, November 20, 2008
Refinery Explosion Felt Like An Earthquake
By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer
An explosion at a Tyler oil refinery, that witnesses said felt like an earthquake, left four men injured and created a cloud of black smoke that trailed from the refinery into downtown Tyler.
Staff Writer
An explosion at a Tyler oil refinery, that witnesses said felt like an earthquake, left four men injured and created a cloud of black smoke that trailed from the refinery into downtown Tyler.
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Fire trucks, ambulances and police cars sped through the city toward the growing cloud that covered the oil refinery. Their first priority was evacuating workers.
The explosion happened at 1:51 p.m. at the Delek US Holdings Inc. refinery located at 425 McMurrey Drive. All employees except for essential personnel were evacuated and moved to a staging area across the street for a head count.
Firefighters pulled two workers from the explosion area who were transported to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler then airlifted to Dallas Parkland Hospital. Two additional employees were transported by ambulance to Trinity Mother Frances Hospital and ETMC.
Large plumes of fire rise at the Delek Refinery after an explosion at the plant. Several people were transported to local hospitals with undisclosed injuries.
Tyler Police quickly shut down Commerce Street and Virginia Avenue to Commerce and Fuller Avenue around Delek to allow room for emergency vehicles. Residents living near Delek were not evacuated and stood outside their homes watching the scene.
Many described the explosion as feeling like an earthquake that shook windows and left a stench of burning rubber in the air.
Tyler Fire Department assistant chief David Schlottach said the first wave of fire suppression tactics were directed at clearing paths for the searchers.
About 4 p.m., Delek officials said all employees were accounted for, although they were unable to provide the exact number of employees present in the plant at the time of explosion.
Fire at Delek Refinery in Tyler Thursday afternoon.
Delek spokeswoman Susan Morgenstern said that officials do not yet know the cause of the explosion, but added that it occurred in the saturated gas unit of the refinery, a highly combustible area, where workers process product from the naphta hydro treater.
Schlottach said extinguishing a pressurized gas fire is difficult because the pressure of the gas escaping a pipe is greater than the pressure coming out of a firefighter’s hose — their only option is to contain the fire and let it burn out.
Just as firefighters were able to close several valves, shutting off the fire’s fuel supply, a second pipeline cracked and caught fire.
“Crews were far enough away when that second fire started, so none of them were hurt,” he said.
Schlottach said there is always the potential for a second explosion when dealing with pressurized gases.
“It’s burning and exposing those other pipes to the flame. We have to be real precise on what pipes are shut off. Our people can’t do anything in here until they get the Delek safety people in here. They’re engineers and they understand the process,” he said.
Later that afternoon, the black smoke that covered the city began to clear. Firefighters said they would remain at the plan throughout the night monitoring the fire and putting out hot spots.
Delek Refining currently operates a stand-alone high-conversion, moderate-complexity independent refinery in Tyler, with a design crude distillation capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, along with an associated crude oil pipeline and light products loading facilities. The company employs about 240 people in its operations in the Tyler area.
“In these economic times I hate to see any business lose revenue and this is a bad situation,” Schlottach said.
Just as firefighters were able to close several valves, shutting off the fire’s fuel supply, a second pipeline cracked and caught fire.
“Crews were far enough away when that second fire started, so none of them were hurt,” he said.
Schlottach said there is always the potential for a second explosion when dealing with pressurized gases.
“It’s burning and exposing those other pipes to the flame. We have to be real precise on what pipes are shut off. Our people can’t do anything in here until they get the Delek safety people in here. They’re engineers and they understand the process,” he said.
Later that afternoon, the black smoke that covered the city began to clear. Firefighters said they would remain at the plan throughout the night monitoring the fire and putting out hot spots.
Delek Refining currently operates a stand-alone high-conversion, moderate-complexity independent refinery in Tyler, with a design crude distillation capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, along with an associated crude oil pipeline and light products loading facilities. The company employs about 240 people in its operations in the Tyler area.
“In these economic times I hate to see any business lose revenue and this is a bad situation,” Schlottach said.
