A fourth person died today as a result of this morning's explosion and fire at the Tesoro Refinery at March's Point. The fourth victim, a 29-year old woman, had been taken to Harborview Medical Center along with 3 others in critical condition.
The fire broke out at about 12:30 Friday morning in the refinery's naphtha unit during maintenance work.
The injured workers were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and were in critical condition, a nursing supervisor at the hospital said. A hospital spokeswoman says they are one woman, 36 year old, and two men, 34 and 41, were in the intensive care unit with major burns over the majority of their bodies.
Mayor Dean Maxwell said "We'll try trying to figure out how to best support the families' impacted by the fire. "I've had lots of calls of support for our community."
Maxwell said that 3 helicopters were sent to fly patients to Seattle. One landed at Island Hospital. He said another one was directed to the playground at 22nd St. and J Ave. He said police placed flares and he and others aimed car headlights to light the field. The third helicopter was sent to Skagit Valley Hospital to pick up a patient that was taken there by ambulance.
“This is a very sad time for our organization. Everyone in the Tesoro family appreciates the impact that this will have on the families involved, and we are responding quickly to ensure the safety for our employees, contractors and the neighboring community,” said Bruce Smith, Tesoro’s Chairman, President and CEO, in a news release.
Nearby residents called Seattle TV stations with reports of an explosion, saying flames were being blown by high winds. “My house shook, big time,” Lisa Wooding told KOMO-TV. “There were flames. First high, then low to the ground and broad.”
The fire occurred at the naphtha hydro-treater while employee’s were placing a piece of equipment back in service. The fire was extinguished and there have been no reports of off-site impacts related to the incident.
The Skagit County and Anacortes fire departments sent crews to battle the fire.The Sheriff’s Department has personnel are on site. The Washington Department of Labor and Industries has been notified of the event.
Tesoro’s Emergency Incident Command has been activated to respond to this incident and the unit affected has been shut down and stabilized.
This refinery was fined $85,700 last year for safety violations discovered during an inspection by the state Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). Tesoro was cited for 17 "serious" violations, meaning there was a risk of "death or serious physical injury" from each violation, according to L&I, which has investigators at the scene.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said it was sending a team of investigators to probe the deadly fire. "It's a major case," said CSB spokesman Daniel Horowitz. Horowitz also said it was too early to speculate linking the Anacortes probe with an investigation the CSB has underway into an October fire into Tesoro's Salt Lake City refinery. Four investigators along with a board member will be sent to Anacortes, Horowitz said.
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