Chevron Fire Slows Production

A fire Monday morning at Chevron USA Inc.’s El Segundo refinery sent flames soaring 150 feet before firefighters extinguished the blaze at 10:15 a.m., about two hours after it started.

Chevron spokesmen said the blaze was the result of a pump malfunction that triggered a release of 450-degree crude oil. No injuries were reported, and company officials described the damage as minimal.

Firefighters said the fire was large. “There was a real good fire,” said Don Johnson, spokesman for the El Segundo Fire Department. “Even here from our office we could see the flames shooting up. That means the flames must have been going 150 feet in the air.”

The refinery, which normally handles 212,000 barrels of crude oil a day, will process 155,000 barrels daily until Saturday, when repairs on one of its two crude units are expected to be complete, Chevron said.