Residents advised to close windows after fire erupts at Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo

A fire erupted late Tuesday at the Chevron El Segundo Refinery, blowing plumes of black smoke toward residential neighborhoods.

El Segundo police advised nearby residents to close their windows as firefighters battle the blaze on the west side of the refinery, located just south of Los Angeles International Airport.

ABC-TV Channel 7 reported that the fire broke out after an explosion at the refinery, threatening storage tanks.

Vista Del Mar is closed between 45th Street and Grand Avenue, said the El Segundo Police Department.

Television footage showed flames dying down after about 30 minutes. No injuries have been reported.

According to its website, the facility was built in 1911 and is the largest producing oil refinery on the West Coast, processing more than 274,000 barrels of crude a day.

Fires at such refineries have had implications in the past for gas prices, though it isn’t clear yet if this one would.

Chevron was fined nearly $1 million by the state of California for a major fire in 2012 at a refinery in the Bay Area.

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Twitter: @AleneTchek

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

11:55 p.m.: This article was updated with no reports of injuries, additional details about the plant.

11:30 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information.

This article was originally published at 11:14 p.m.