UpdateDeath toll grows to five in US Tesoro refinery fire

03 April 2010 18:34  [Source: ICIS news]

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HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The death toll from Friday’s fire at Tesoro’s Anacortes refinery in Washington state grew to five, according to news reports.

Three refinery workers were earlier reported to have died following the fire, and a fourth and fifth died of their injuries after being taken to a hospital in Seattle, according to news media reports.

 Two other injured workers remained in critical condition at the Seattle hospital.

The fire occurred at 0:30 hours Anacortes time (7:30 hours GMT) during maintenance work at the refinery’s naphtha unit, the company said. The fire was contained at 02:00 hours Anacortes time (9:00 hours GMT).

Other major parts of the refinery remained in operation, but at reduced rates, the company said.

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) was sending a team of investigators and a board member to investigate the fire.

The board said it was also investigating an October 2009 flash fire at a Tesoro Refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah, that occurred when flammable liquid overfilled a flare stack and ignited.

CSB Chairman and CEO John Bresland said, “The CSB has 18 ongoing investigations.  Of those, seven of these accidents occurred at refineries across the country.  This is a significant and disturbing trend that the refining industry needs to address immediately.”

The Friday incident was believed to be the worst since the 2005 explosion at the BP Texas City refinery in Texas that killed 15 workers, according to news reports.

The Tesoro refinery near Seattle has a capacity of 120,000 bbl/day, according to the company's website.

Overall, Tesoro has a combined refining capacity of 665,000 bbl/day from seven refineries in the western US.

The Chemical Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged with investigating serious chemical accidents.

The board does not issue citations or fines, but it does make safety recommendations.

Additional reporting by Al Greenwood and Stefan Baumgarten

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