Mobil Refinery Fire Shakes Neighborhood

A fire that erupted at the 750-acre Mobil Oil Corp. refinery in Torrance on Friday shook nearby residents out of their beds at 5:18 a.m., causing many of them to flee when they saw flames coming from one of the many towers.

The fire was under control less than two hours later. No one was injured or evacuated, Torrance Fire Chief R. Scott Adams said.

Residents heard a loud boom and saw flames erupt from a unit called a platinum reformer, which upgrades low-octane gas to high-octane gas.

The explosion and fire prompted several residents across from the refinery to jump into their cars and leave, even though no one was officially evacuated.

“It was kind of scary,” said Betty Heredia, 47, who was sitting in front of her house on 190th Street, drinking a cup of coffee and having a cigarette when the explosion occurred. She ran inside and alerted her roommates. They got into their car and drove a few blocks away until the fire subsided 20 minutes later.

About 50 firefighters from the Torrance Fire Department and 40 firefighters from Mobil battled the blaze, which was extinguished by 7 a.m., officials said.

The fire appears to have been caused by a gasoline leak at a pump in the platinum reformer unit, Mobil spokeswoman Carolin A. Keith said. But no one knows yet what caused the leak or the fire to start, she added. The accident is under investigation.

The fire occurred one block away from a toxic hydrofluoric acid unit, Keith said, adding that there was no danger that that unit would explode.

The refinery continued to operate Friday. Fire officials said no hazardous chemicals were released in the air.

An explosion at the Mobil Oil refinery on Oct. 19, 1994, injured 28 workers after flammable gases were allowed to flow into a pipeline left disconnected after construction work.