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Fires and explosions when trucks and tanker caught fire at Pennsylvania oil refinery, two fire fighters injured
Two fire fighters were injured after a fire broke out at an oil refinery in Venango County in Pennsylvania, US. The fire broke out at Heath Oil along Route 8 near the I-80 interchange in Barkeyville. The flames were fierce and the explosions shook residents awake just before 04h00am on Tuesday, 12 April 2022. The fire and explosions from the trucks that caught fire at Heath Oil Refinery in Barkeyville were so intense it blew out windows on this Clintonville Volunteer Fire Department truck. The assistant fire chief said some of their gear and hoses are contaminated. Clintonville Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Brayden Rea said that a truck pulling a tanker caught fire, causing several explosions. The fire then spread to two trucks sitting at the refinery’s staging area. "We found one tanker on fire along with two trucks. We started moving trucks and trying to extinguish the fire. We did have one tank BLEVE. It did go in and catch one of the manifolds on fire in the refinery. We got that extinguished," Rea said.
Multiple fire departments from as far as 30 miles away had to assist because crews needed a lot of foam and water to extinguish the fire. The two Clintonville fire fighters sustained minor injuries and were treated on scene. Fire fighters were able to prevent the flames from spreading to Heath Oil's Anchors Away gas station and a Subway. Assistant Chief Rea said their fire engine's windows blew out, some of their equipment was damaged and some gear got contaminated. "We've been trying to work with our municipalities to get more funding. Obviously in a situation like this, we used a lot of resources. When the tank BLEVEd, we blew out our windows in our engine and damaged lots of equipment today. Several sets of gear are contaminated with fuel that we are going to have to replace. It's going to cost us a lot of money as a volunteer department that relies just on funding from the community and a couple municipalities," Assistant Chief Rea said. He added that this was at least the third fire at the refinery that he can remember. Images and video of the aftermath taken by first responders shows the damage, the trucks all melted and charred. Sources: CBS News |
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