A massive explosion at an oil refinery in Los Angeles triggered a huge fire ball that sent shockwaves through the city.
The fire began just outside the busy LAX airport and was visible for miles across Los Angeles after it erupted at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo, according to police.
Firefighters arrived to the scene at around 9:35pm local time, several minutes after people in surrounding areas reported hearing a loud blast.
Authorities have not received reports of any injuries and residents have been told to stay indoors and shut their windows.
The El Segundo area is directly south of LAX, but Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass stated that there ‘is no known impact’ on the international airport.
The Daily Mail understands LAX is not experiencing any operational impacts to flights at this time.
El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel praised the quick response to the fire and said he was ‘very concerned’.
‘We were able to respond to the Chevron fire immediately; our station is about 0.25 miles away from the gates of Chevron,’ Pimentel said. ‘Clearly, we are very concerned, and there is much investigative work to be done to understand what has occurred.’
A huge fire has broken out at the Chevron refinery in the El Segundo neighborhood in Los Angeles, according to police
Pictured: Firefighters spray water on the fire, which at that point rose several stories high
Shocking images and videos shared by social media users show the night sky consumed by bright orange flames, with smoke rising into the air as witnesses described hearing a ‘sudden steady roar’.
The Torrance Police Department informed the Daily Mail that units are currently at the facility, which covers two square miles and supplies over 40 percent of jet fuel and more than 20 percent of motor vehicle fuel throughout Southern California.
It is the largest refinery on the west coast and is capable of producing 276,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
To oversee this complex operation, the refinery employs 1,000 workers, along with 1,000 contractors on average each day. The facility also has its own fire department, staffed by 24 full-time firefighters.
Live feeds of the blaze show the fire continuing to burn two hours after igniting.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell told KCAL-TV that the fire had largely been contained by around 10:30pm local time.
Depending on the extent of the damage, fuel costs could increase for Americans, especially Californians, who already pay some of the highest prices at the pump.
Julian Reese, 13, said he and his father felt a blast before running outside to see the fire, the Los Angeles Times reported.
This camera captured the moment of the explosion at the oil facility
Resident reported first hearing and seeing the blast at around 9:30 local time. It’s unclear what caused the explosion
Pictured: An aerial view of the Chevron refinery in El Segundo. It is located just south of LAX
When the explosion happened, Mark Rogers was playing soccer as part of his adult league at Aviation Park, just a few miles away from the refinery.
‘I thought we got nuked or something,’ Rogers said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the incident, according to a statement on social media.
‘Our office is coordinating in real time with local and state agencies to protect the surrounding community and ensure public safety,’ the statement continued.
This same facility had a fire on November 8, 2022, which took multiple fire crews about two hours to fully extinguish. A pump failure caused a fire on October 18, 2017, as well.
