Texas

4 Injured in Fire at ExxonMobil Oil Refinery in Texas

Residents in the area reported hearing a loud “boom” before flames were seen rising from the plant

Exxon-Mobil plant in Baytown, Texas,
Michael Ryleigh Felts

Crews extinguished a large fire at an ExxonMobil oil refinery in Texas that broke out early Thursday, injuring four people.

The fire started at about 1 a.m. at ExxonMobil's refinery in Baytown, which is about 25 miles east of Houston. Four people were injured but everyone else on site has been accounted for, said Rohan Davis, the refinery's manager.

Three of the injured were taken to hospitals by helicopter while the fourth was taken by ambulance, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. ExxonMobil said air quality monitoring has not revealed any issues. No evacuations or shelter-in-place orders have been issued.

Gonzalez said initial reports suggested that "some type of explosion" had occurred inside the plant. Residents in the area told NBC affiliate KPRC they heard a loud “boom” before flames were seen rising from the facility.

Baytown Fire Department said the area that caught fire processes material with gasoline components.

The refinery, located along the Houston Ship Channel, has the capacity to process up to 584,000 barrels of crude oil each day. It employs about 7,000 people, according to the company's website.

The Associated Press/NBC
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