Explosion shakes Wisconsin refinery, forcing evacuations
An explosion rocked a refinery in northwestern Wisconsin on Thursday, injuring at least 11 people, forcing the evacuation of homes, schools and a hospital, and sending a plume of noxious smoke billowing into the air.
Authorities said a tank of crude oil or asphalt exploded about 10 a.m. at the Husky Energy oil refinery in Superior, a city of about 27,000 that shares a Lake Superior shipping port with nearby Duluth, Minn. That prompted them to order the evacuation of a 3-mile radius around the refinery, as well as a 10-mile corridor south of it where the smoke was heading.
It was unclear how many people were being evacuated. The refinery is in an industrial area, but there's a residential neighborhood within a mile to the northeast. The corridor downwind to the south of the refinery is sparsely populated.
Hospital officials said only one of the injured was seriously hurt, with what was described as a blast injury.
No deaths were reported, and officials said all workers had been accounted for.
Thick smoke poured from the refinery hours after the explosion.
Refinery manager Kollin Schade said the smoke was from burning asphalt that was so hot that firefighters were unable to attack the fire to try to put it out. Emergency officials later said another tank had caught fire, too, though they didn't specify what was in it.
Calgary, Alberta-based Husky Energy bought the refinery from Indianapolis-based Calumet Specialty Products Partners last year for over $490 million. It's Wisconsin's only refinery, and it produces gasoline, asphalt and other products.
The refinery had been fined by federal officials several years ago under its previous owners. U.S. Department of Labor spokesman Scott Allen said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Calumet Superior $21,000 over emergency response and flammable liquids violations in 2015. The violations were settled and the problems resolved by the end of that year.