Pump Rupture at Refinery Triggers Spectacular Fire

Crude oil gushing from a ruptured pump triggered a spectacular fire Friday at the Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo, sending flames 200 feet into the sky but injuring no one, officials said.

A loud noise preceding the flames was reported by residents near the refinery, but refinery officials denied that there was an explosion.

“First it sounded like a huge hissing sound . . . then we heard a loud explosion,” said one resident who watched the flames from his yard three-quarters of a mile away.

Scores of spectators lined El Segundo Boulevard to get at look at the blaze that sent thick, black smoke into the air.

A mechanical seal on a large pump carrying crude oil into one of the refinery’s two main processing units ruptured about 7:49 p.m. and caught fire, a Chevron spokesman said.

A fire official said, “We are waiting for the (oil) that was still in those (pipe)lines to burn itself out.”