Huge Exxon Refinery Explosion Rocks Southern California

The explosion and fire ripped through the facility at around 9 AM PST.

Mayor Patrick Furey told KNBC that residents near the refinery needed to take precautions. 

"The most important thing is to shelter in place, stay indoors, no outdoor activity, turn the air conditioners off, keep the windows closed," Furey advised.

There was no evacuation of surrounding areas, but nearby schools were keeping students and staff indoors immediately after the blast as a precaution, Torrance Fire Captain Steve Deuel said.

“We just heard this loud bang. We saw the walls cave in," witness Daniel Wolfe told ABC7. "It was kind of scary. We thought it was an earthquake, but it was too quick." 

“It felt like a car crash, or a car hit our house,” said resident Mac McCarthy. “It was too abrupt, it didn’t seem like it could have been an earthquake and then we all just ran out front and everyone was freaking out about the fire but that was just the gas burning. If you look passed the hedges, you can see some of the refineries leaning over.” 

David Campbell, Treasurer and Secretary of the local chapter of United Steelworkers, which represents workers at the plant, told Reuters the explosion happened near a fluid catalytic cracking unit, the processor used to convert crude oil into gasoline. 

Deuel explained the cause of the blast has not been determined. He went on to say workers only suffered minor injuries and were treated by paramedics, Reuters reported.

Firefighters and refinery workers extinguished a ground fire caused by a gas leak, and a survey of the area revealed some confined structural damage, Deuel said, though the full extent of damage is still unknown. 

"We're in the process of stabilizing the situation and there are no other issues happening," he told Reuters. “Excess gasoline was being flared, or burned off, by the refinery.”

Torrance Unified School District spokeswoman Tammy Khan told Reuters that students from fourteen schools were ordered to shelter in and could not go outside. 

“We are taking every measure to make sure our students are safe,” Khan told NBC4 Los Angeles 

ExxonMobil is looking into the cause of the explosion, according to Gesuina Paras, a public and government affairs adviser at the company.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory for any areas where residents can see or smell smoke.