Early Friday morning, a large fire broke out at an oil refinery in Philadelphia, rocking the area with at least one booming explosion and lighting up the dark sky with huge balls of gas and flame. Check out the insane video of the explosion below:
@6abc @CBSPhilly @FOX29philly Philadelphia energy Solutions Refining Complex at about 4:15 am pic.twitter.com/vK1Vs2MEfR
— hood’s favorite vegan (@1nicetownbean) June 21, 2019
The City's Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said "the explosion and fire came from a vat of butane at Philadelphia Energy Solutions, sometime around 4 a.m."
Aside from one worker who complained of chest pains after the fire started, no other injuries have been reported. Emergency management officials initially asked people east of the fire to shelter in place, but the order was lifted around 7 AM EST.
Officials had an industrial hygienist take air-quality readings, and the area "is clear," but the company will continue to monitor the air in neighborhoods to the east.
Portions of the I-76 expressway and the city's Platt Bridge were temporarily closed after the fire, according to the city's Office of Emergency Management.
The facility is the 10th largest in the US and is the largest oil refining complex on the Eastern seaboard, according to its website. Philadelphia Energy Solutions employs more than 1,000 people and refines 335,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
Butane along with gasoline, heating oil and propane, are some of the products that come from the process of refining crude oil.
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