Anacortes Refinery Fire
Anacortes, WA –An explosion at an oil refinery north of Seattle early Friday killed three folks and seriously wounded four others.
A fire occurred at the Tesoro Corp.’s plant at 12:30 a.m. although workers had been performing maintenance work, the company mentioned in a statement. Personnel from the Skagit County sheriff’s department responded towards the blaze, the trigger of that is nevertheless under investigation.
The blaze happened within the location with the plant wherever naphtha, derived from the process of distilling crude oil, is produced. It was contained by 2 a.m. and “there have been no reports of off-site impacts related for the incident,” Tesoro stated.
4 injured employees had been taken to a Seattle hospital for treatment. The company did not disclose the extent of the injuries sustained by its workers, but local reports have described the victims as critically wounded.
Tesoro, which is headquartered in Texas, has shut down and stabilized all areas of its plant affected by the blast.
The refinery in Anarcortes is one of seven plants in the west coast operated from the Fortune 150 organization. It refines 115,000 barrels of crude oil a day to produce asphalt, diesel, gasoline, heavy fuel gas, jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas.
“This is a very sad time for our organization,” Bruce Smith, the company’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “Everyone in the Tesoro family appreciates the impact that this will have on the families involved, and we are responding quickly to ensure the safety for our employees, contractors and the neighboring community.”