Chevron refinery fire in El Segundo extinguished; investigation underway into cause

The impact of the fiery blast is going far past the South Bay. Here's how much experts anticipate gas prices will go up.

Crews extinguished a massive fire that erupted at a Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo, which sent up large flames and plumes of smoke into the air. Now, the impact of that fiery blast is going far past the South Bay.

The refinery produces about 20% of California's gasoline and 40% of its jet fuel.

According to a statement released by Chevron, the fire was contained to a southeast corner of the refinery unit, but it's still raising questions about how much drivers could be paying at the pump.

"This particular refinery, anytime it shuts down, it impacts prices all along the western coast of the United States, and even into places like Vancouver, British Columbia, other aspects in Canada," said Matt McClain from GasBuddy.com.

McClain says early estimates had the price per gallon jumping 30 to 90 cents more per gallon. But now that the damage to the refinery looks limited, the spike won't be nearly as steep.

"As long as the initial reports of the extent of the damage remains, it's actually a very positive thing for gasoline consumers," McClain said. "The impact is expected to be reduced back to just a nickel to 15 cents a gallon rise at this point at the local pump."

Still, for many drivers, even that feels like too much, especially when prices were already climbing before the fire.

With the small bump in gas prices, experts say there is no need to panic-buy, because that will just stress the demand.

The fire at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo has been contained, Chevron said on its website Friday.

The fire at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo has been contained, Chevron said on its website Friday.

Chevron added that it launched an internal investigation to figure out what caused the massive fire.

"All personnel and contractors have been accounted for, and no injuries have been reported. As a precautionary measure, Chevron's Health Safety and Environmental team has been conducting mobile air monitoring in the community," a statement read.

The fire started on Thursday night, sending a glow across Southern California. Residents in the surrounding communities of El Segundo and Manhattan Beach, residents were told to stay indoors.

The flames shot so high into the air, they were visible for miles around.

"I was looking north, and I still saw glows from the light. I turned around, looked south, and you could see the flames going up, probably 200, 300 feet in the sky. It was crazy," said Davond Dade, who lives nearby. "This one did feel different because it's closer to home, so it was a little nerve-racking."

"The house shook": Neighbors near the fire at an El Segundo Chevron refinery said the explosion rattled their homes, but this isn't the first fire they've seen at the facility.

The fire burned through the night, but was finally put out on Friday morning. No evacuations were ordered, and all refinery personnel and contractors are accounted for with no injuries.

The refinery is the largest oil-producing site on the West Coast. It covers roughly 1.5 square miles and can process nearly 300,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

It's unclear what caused the fire, which isn't the first fire at the facility.

"Cal/OSHA is on site on the lead right now. There's always an investigation whenever there is a mechanical issue, but we are dealing with combustible chemistries. Those are things that happen. But every time there's an issue, there's a really thorough investigation that goes into it. There's certainly a lot of capital improvement that goes into making it safer," said El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel.

Air quality is not an issue for those who live nearby, and because damage to the facility was limited, a big jump in the price of gas is not expected.

"It's looking at maybe a nickel to 15 cents, which is far better than what we were fearing just even an hour ago," said Matt McClain with GasBuddy.

There have been four fires at the Chevron refinery since 2016. The last one happened in 2022.

There are no reports of any damage to property away from the refinery.

"We did send updates via NIXEL to let people know what was happening, and we did send updates, especially about air quality, and again this morning with the school district, to let them know, 'Hey, we've got an all-clear. School will proceed and the roads will be open,'" Pimentel said.

Crews on Friday managed to gain control of a massive fire at Chevron's El Segundo refinery, and now officials will work to determine what caused it.

Although the fire was mostly contained by around 7 a.m., fire crews remained on scene to full extinguish the flames, which originated at a process unit at the southeast corner of the refinery.

A Chevron spokesperson told Eyewitness News that the fire was isolated to that area of the site.

When asked whether the incident will impact gas prices, the spokesperson said it was still too early to determine that.

When a large fire broke out at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo, a bright orange glow from the flames could be seen across a large portion of Southern California.

Eyewitness News spoke exclusively with a man who had an up-close experience. He was working on site when it erupted and described what it was like.

Eyewitness News spoke exclusively with a man who had an up-close experience with the massive fire at Chevron's El Segundo refinery.

"Next thing I know, I hear like a big 'WHOOOSH'... it was like wind, but like pressurized wind," he said. "Next thing I know, bro, I see everything in front of me just light up and I see shadows of towers and pieces of equipment and I'm just like 'Oh my god. It's a fire'."

That's when he started running.

"Next thing I know, on my left side, the flare goes off... it's just a big old fire torch, you know what I mean? And I just feel the heat coming on the left side of my face, and I'm just like 'Oh man i got to keep running, I'm already out of breath'."

Chevron officials said everyone was accounted for and no injuries were reported.