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Fire at Chevron refinery sends massive flames shooting into Southern California night sky
By Christina Shaw
Published October 03, 2025
A massive fire erupted at an oil refinery in Southern California Thursday night.
Firefighters were dispatched around 9:35 p.m. to the Chevron refinery in El Segundo after receiving calls of smoke in the area, according to authorities.
Billowing smoke and orange flames could be seen in the sky for miles across the South Bay Area.
Fire Division Chief Casey Snow with the El Segundo Fire Department told Fox News Digital that some of the products – gasoline and diesel – were burning.
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Smoke and flames could be seen coming from Chevron's El Segundo Refinery in Los Angeles County, California, late Thursday night after reports of an explosion. (KTTV)
Witnesses described the fiery scene as visible for miles.
"So I saw the sky turn orange, and I was just wondering, like, what the h--- happened. What is that? And then I saw the whole explosion happen. It was just like a whole mushroom cloud of fire. It just started popping up," Miguel Morales, told Fox News Digital.
Snow said crews contained the flames to the refinery and were focusing on preventing the fire from spreading.
"It’s contained to the Chevron refinery, so there’s no hazard to the adjacent cities or residents in El Segundo or Manhattan Beach," Snow said. "Units on scene are working to depressurize and isolate the incident and suppress the fire."
Massive flames lit up the night sky in Los Angeles County on Thursday after an explosion at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo, California. (Video Screenshot/@Sri_Shenoy on X)
He also noted that while it is a "waiting game" because of what's burning, there is no threat to residents in surrounding cities at this time.
"It’s just a waiting game right now because there’s residual gasoline and diesel that’s going to burn, and there’s not much we can do about it. We’re just keeping everything around it cool and trying to depressurize it, and eventually that gasoline will burn out and we’ll be in good shape," Snow said.
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He added that there are no injuries to report, which was also confirmed by a Chevron spokesperson.
"All refinery personnel and contractors have been accounted for and there are no injuries," Allison Cook said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
She added, "No evacuation orders for area residents have been put in place by emergency response agencies monitoring the incident, and no exceedances have been detected by the facilities fence line monitoring system."
An explosion took place at Chevron's oil refinery located in El Segundo, California, on Thursday night. (Eric Quintanar for Fox News Digital)
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The refinery is one of the largest on the West Coast and serves as a critical hub for the region’s fuel supply. It spans about 2 square miles and processes crude oil into jet fuel, gasoline and other petroleum products.
The facility employs more than 1,000 Chevron employees and another 1,000 contractors work at the site daily, underscoring its role as a major employer in the South Bay Area.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/fire-chevron-refinery-sends-massive-flames-shooting-southern-california-night-sky