February 2, 2006
Reported by Libby White
An explosion and fire halted operations at the Conoco refinery in Westlake just after 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Carol Collins, public relations director for Conoco Phillips, says the fire happened at one of their units and their crews had the fire out by 2 a.m., Thursday. Collins says there were about 80 employees on the scene at the time of the explosion.
“There were no injuries and all employees have been accounted for,” according to Collins. “As far as we can tell there has been no impact to the local community.”
Amanda Verret lives a half mile from the plant. She says she heard three loud “booms” and the explosion rattled her windows. Verret tells 7 News, “first we thought it was some of the usual flares going off at Sasol. We didn’t think anything of it. Whenever we went outside and saw how big it was, we checked it out and it ended up being a big fire at Conoco.”
Collins says an investigation into the cause of the explosion has already begun, and business at the refinery will continue as usual today.