Tesoro identifies victims in refinery fire

The four Tesoro employees who died are: Daniel Aldridge, Matt Bowen, Darrin Hoines, and Kathryn Powell. Westfall said the employees were supervisors or operators in the naphtha unit, along with the three employees who were critically injured. The injured, identified as Matt Gumbel, Lew Janz and Donna Van Dreumel, are hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. 

Westfall told a Friday afternoon news conference at the refinery that the incident happened following what he called "minor, routine maintenance." He said the fire, which broke out at about 12:30 Friday morning, was contained by 2am.

He said the naphtha unit has been shut down and isolated, but the major parts of the refinery remain in operation, but at reduced rates. Westfall said the unit undergoes maintenance about once a year

Westfall told reporters Tesoro investigators have not yet been able to enter the area, but expect to do so by the end of the day, Friday. He confirmed that the area where the fire occurred was also an area that had been cited for violations by the state Department of Labor & Industries.

This refinery was fined $85,700 last year for safety violations discovered during an inspection last year. 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.

But, Westfall said the refinery had addressed most of the concerns, except for a couple that were still under review by a third party and those were in the same unit involved in this accident. He said the last death at the refinery was in 2002 and was that of a contractor.