Fire at Chevron El Segundo refinery confined to one area, no evacuations

A massive fire broke out late Thursday night at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery, one of the largest oil refining complexes on the US West Coast, officials said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office confirmed the incident on Thursday, noting that state and local agencies were working closely to safeguard the public.

Videos shared on social media and cited by the Los Angeles Times showed a massive fireball erupting from the facility shortly after 9:30 p.m., accompanied by a loud, extended roar.

The flames initially lit up the night sky, but by the following hour the blaze had largely subsided. A steady bright flame continued to burn near the southern end of the refinery.

Officials confirm fire limited to one section

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell told local broadcaster KCAL-TV around 10:30 p.m. that the blaze had been contained to a single area of the refinery.

She added there were no immediate reports of injuries and reassured residents that there was “no cause for alarm” in surrounding neighborhoods.

Mitchell said that authorities would continue to monitor air quality and urged residents living closest to the refinery to stay indoors as a precaution.

El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel told the station that all refinery personnel had been accounted for and that the flames did not extend beyond the facility’s boundaries.

Police also confirmed there were no evacuation orders in place, and CBS reported that no injuries were known at the time. The cause of the fire remains unclear.

Chevron reports emergency flaring

In a regulatory filing, Chevron said emergency flaring had been activated at the refinery.

The safety mechanism allows excess gases to be burned off during an operational upset or emergency.

The refinery, which covers about 1,000 acres along the South Bay coastline, operates 1,100 miles of pipelines and can refine up to 290,000 barrels of crude oil daily, according to Chevron.

Its storage tanks can hold 12.5 million barrels. Products from the plant include gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, making the site critical to the region’s energy supply.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the city’s fire department was prepared to assist if needed.

She also confirmed that operations at Los Angeles International Airport, located nearby, had not been affected.

South Bay’s history with refinery fires

The South Bay region, home to several major oil production and refining facilities, has experienced refinery fires in the past.

In 2022, a fire at the same El Segundo facility took firefighters two hours to extinguish.

Two years earlier, flames from the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Carson reached more than 100 feet high, causing hours of concern before being brought under control.

Such incidents highlight the risks associated with large-scale refining operations, though in most cases the damage is contained within facility boundaries. Authorities said investigations into the El Segundo fire would determine its cause and assess whether additional safety measures are needed.