Firefighters quell blaze at oil refinery

TORRANCE, Calif. — An explosion and fire erupted Saturday at a California oil refinery, exactly two years after a blast that crippled the plant and led to higher gasoline prices, authorities said.

No injuries were reported from the Torrance Refining Co. near Los Angeles and there were no evacuations or damage to any buildings outside the refinery, Assistant Fire Chief Steve Treskes said.

Three dozen firefighters using heavy streams of water battled flames that rose 40 feet in the air, and the fire was knocked down in about 30 minutes, Treskes said.

“All safety systems at the refinery operated properly and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” Betsy Brien, a spokeswoman for the refinery owner, New Jersey-based PBF Energy Inc., said in a statement.

There was no immediate word on damage or the cause of the blast.

However, most of the refinery continued to operate, Brien said.

The blast came on the anniversary of a Feb. 18, 2015, explosion that slightly injured four contractors, destroyed a large part of the refinery, rocked the neighboring community 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles and sent a fine white ash raining down on nearby homes and cars.

In fact, activists had planned a protest at the plant on Saturday to mark the incident and demand a ban on the use of a highly toxic and volatile chemical, modified hydrofluoric acid.

The refinery sits on 750 acres and produces 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline a year, which accounts for about 8.3 percent of the state’s total refining capacity.