4 workers hurt, 3 missing in explosion, fire at Washington state refinery

4 hurt, 3 missing in blast, fire at Wash. refinery

ANACORTES, Wash. — An explosion and fire erupted at an oil refinery in Washington state early Friday, leaving four workers injured and three missing, officials said.

The Skagit County and Anacortes fire departments sent crews to battle the 12:40 a.m. fire at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, while Airlift Northwest told King-TV that three helicopters were dispatched.

Area residents, some as far as five miles from the complex, called Washington broadcast stations after midnight with reports of an explosion and fire, saying flames were being blown by high winds.

KOMO-TV quoted area resident Lisa Wooding as saying her house shook from the blast.

The blaze started in a catalytic unit for naphtha of the refinery, Tesoro human resources manager John McDarment told The Associated Press. He said refinery crews put out the fire within two hours. He didn’t know how exactly how long it had burned or how it started.

McDarment said four workers were taken to hospitals, but didn’t have any details on their conditions. He said a search was under way for the three missing workers.

Activity around the complex had calmed down considerably by about 3 a.m. PDT.

Guards were turning reporters away from the gate and there was no apparent sign of the fire that had lit up the skies just 2½ hours earlier.

At least three of the refinery’s smokestacks were in operation, but many others were inactive.