New Fire Today at Chevron – Smaller and Quickly Doused

A new, small fire erupted at the Chevron refinery this morning, Wednesday, near where the large blaze burned Monday night, and was soon extinguished by refinery firefighters with no injuries, Chevron said.

Chevron spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie described the new blaze as "a small secondary fire" that was "ignited near the initial fire location."

"The second small fire resulted in no injuries, presented no immediate threat to the public and was extinguished in minutes," Ritchie said. "When Chevron personnel responded to the second fire, Richmond fire reported to the refinery’s firehouse as back-up support, which is standard operating procedure."

KTVU journalist Tori Campbell tweeted word of the new fire late this morning, saying it was "at the same unit that caught fire Monday evening."

The Monday night fire, in the number 4 crude unit, spewed a huge plume into the sky visible for many miles, prompted shelter-in-place warnings, caused nearly a thousand people to seek treatment at local hospitals and curtailed BART service.