Richmond Refinery Fire

[ysengrin]

Around 6:15pm local time a fire broke out at the Richmond Chevron Refinery, according to a live interview with a Chevron rep; the general public noticed around 6:40 with reports of explosions (denied by the Chevron rep) and a plume of thick, black smoke. Location of the main fire is 37°56'34.48"N, 122°23'27.23"W from cross referencing live footage with Google Earth. There's still a live feed at at the moment, though I image it'll come down as it gets darker. Another station has a slideshow.

Officials have issued a level-3 community warning which means that the fire can cause eye, skin, nose or respiratory irritation. A shelter-in-place advisory was issued for residents in Richmond and San Pablo.

It's nowhere near us, and the plume isn't rising high enough to cross over the hills between us and the bay area.

Comments

[wolfstoy.livejournal.com]

I had a front seat view but we weren't really in the direct path of the smoke. Still, we observed the shelter in place as a good idea for a drill. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the smoke went your way though by the looks of the wind patterns.

Speaking of the front seat view, we could see the flames from the upstairs windows. It was pretty spectacular.