At least six people were hurt in a fire that broke out at Martinez Refining Co.’s facility in Contra Costa County on Saturday afternoon. As black smoke rose into the surrounding community, authorities issued a shelter-in-place alert for nearby neighborhoods with no indication of when the alert would be lifted.
According to officials, the fire started at around 1:47 p.m. and ejected hundreds of pounds of sulfur dioxide and black smoke plumes. Refinery firefighters and firefighters from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District attempted to extinguish the fire on Saturday evening, but it was still within the refinery.
At a press conference, Contra Costa Fire Batallion Chief Bob Atlas stated that three persons were injured but discharged at the scene, while three others were hospitalized with minor injuries as a result of the fire. An earlier report from the state’s Office of Emergency Services stated that at least one was a refinery worker who was hospitalized after becoming “disoriented”.
Two hours later, county officials upgraded the Level 2 warning—which described the fire as a potential health hazard to anyone with respiratory sensitivities—to a Level 3 shelter-in-place notice for parts of Martinez north of the facility. Residents in the impacted area were advised to stay indoors, close windows and doors, turn off fans, and avoid making non-emergency calls in accordance with the advisory.
Area sirens would sound every 30 minutes until the county gave the all-clear, according to Nicole Heath, Director of Hazardous Materials for Contra Costa Health, who was unable to provide an estimated time of when the shelter-in-place alert would be withdrawn. After the fire started, two Interstate 680 exits and other nearby roads were closed for around four hours.
The Bay Area Air District warned that neighborhoods close to and downwind of the fire may smell smoke and be exposed to “elevated levels of particulate pollution” after issuing an air quality advisory for portions of Contra Costa and Solano counties just before 4 p.m.
According to Sarah Levin, Contra Costa County’s Deputy Public Health Officer, residents who were exposed to smoke from the fire may have headaches, dizziness, burning eyes and nasal passages, sore throats, and in the worst situations, heart discomfort or shortness of breath.
According to a preliminary report to the state’s Office of Emergency Services, refinery operators reported that the fire released at least 500 pounds of sulfur dioxide, a pollutant, into the environment.
