Welding Sparks May Have Started Oil Fire

A fire that raged for 18 hours and destroyed an oil processing plant in Fullerton may have been ignited by workers using welding equipment to make repairs on an oil storage tank, fire investigators said Wednesday.

Sparks from the welding work apparently ignited vapors, causing crude oil stored in the tank to burst into flames, said Fullerton Fire Marshal Mark Martin.

The fire, which erupted Tuesday at a Unocal oil field north of Cal State Fullerton, burned through the night and was finally extinguished about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. Seven above-ground storage tanks holding a total 4,000 barrels--168,000 gallons--of crude oil were consumed in the blaze, Unocal officials said.

A preliminary damage estimate has been put at $800,000. No injuries were reported and no homes were threatened, officials said.

Unocal spokesman Barry Lane confirmed that workers were using welding equipment for repair work near the tanks before the fire erupted, but said company officials have not determined if sparks caused the fire.

However, Lane said that precautionary measures required by state health authorities, such as checking for combustible vapors in the air and mounting a backup fire watch, were undertaken before the work was performed.

Officials of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which monitors airborne emissions, said district investigators will determine if proper procedures were followed in handling the crude oil before the fire. If negligence is found to have contributed to the fire, the company could be assessed penalties, district spokesman Tom Eichhorn said.

Eichhorn said there appeared to be no danger that toxic materials were released during the fire or that the fire caused any significant environmental damage.

The fire began about 12:30 p.m. in the 100-acre oil field, located in an undeveloped area off Bastanchury Road, west of State College Boulevard. Plumes of smoke that rose 75 feet into the air rained oil particles on brush-covered hillsides but posed no problem for firefighters battling the blaze, fire officials said.

Because the winds were light, the oil particles are also not likely to cause any damage to plants in the area, officials with the county agriculture commissioner’s office said.

Firefighters were hampered by the absence of nearby fire hydrants. The nearest hydrants are at Bastanchury Road and Brea Boulevard, which required laying of 4,000 feet of hose.

Initial attempts to smother the blaze were delayed as firefighters waited nearly 90 minutes for supplies of fire retardant foam to arrive. Fire officials said foam, rather than water, is used to fight oil fires to reduce the danger of an explosion.

Fullerton Battalion Chief Van Goyne said nearly 3,000 gallons of foam retardant were used to extinguish the fire, at a cost of $50,000. That cost will be passed on to Unocal, he added.

Fire officials estimate that temperatures during the fire reached 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, twice that of house fires. More than 150 firefighters from 11 Orange County fire departments battled the blaze through the night, fire officials said. Airport emergency crash units from El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and county firefighters were also on hand.

Unocal officials said the storage facility, built in 1918, was destroyed and will have to be rebuilt. Temporary storage tanks will be built so the company can resume sending oil through pipelines to its refinery in Wilmington, Lane said.