ExxonMobil refinery unit catches fire

By Advocate staff report

A process unit at an ExxonMobil refinery in north Baton Rouge caught fire Tuesday but injured no one and did not affect refinery operations, a company spokeswoman said.

A process unit in the back of the refinery at 4045 Scenic Highway caught fire just after 2 p.m., said ExxonMobil spokeswoman Mary Beth Chevalier.

The refinerys own firefighters put out the fire in less than 20 minutes, she said.

No hazardous materials were involved, she said.

The fire presented no danger to areas surrounding the plant, so city firefighters were not called, Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman Barry Mounce said.

Chevalier said the refinery will investigate the cause of the process unit fire.

Link

http://www.theadvocate.com/news/story.asp?StoryID=11103

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 23, 2000

Answers

Not worth reporting, not Y2k either.

I saw several fires while down there, heard of lots more. That's why the refineries have their own fire department, and rarely need any help from outside.

The odd smoke column isn't worth looking at.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), February 23, 2000.

Refineries have their own fire department for the same reason that a lot of industries have them. Their fire departments knows what is where and what they are dealing with. The city fire department doesn't know what to spray water on since they do not know what chemicals are where or how to contain/control them. Each industry provides special training for their own people. The industrial fire department is highly specialized with the skills to rapidly address the problem. Refinery fires are occurring far more often now than in the past. Several serious fires have occurred resulting in the refinery being shut down for several weeks for repairs. The possibility of Y2k valve failures being a cause cannot be dismissed.

-- Y2kObserver (Y2kObserver@nowhere.com), February 23, 2000.