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Nov. 30--A 2.5 million gallon storage tank exploded at the Alon USA Bakersfield Refinery on Rosedale Highway shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday. No one was reported killed or injured, but smoke could be seen spewing from the property.
There was no immediate indication of what caused the explosion, said Chad Druten, a spokesman for Paramount Petroleum, part of the refinery's owner, Dallas-based Alon USA Energy Inc. He said the tank was not in service at the time.
Kern County Fire Department spokesman Sean Collins said there was a small amount of diesel sludge in the tank that somehow caught fire. The blaze appeared to have mostly burned out by 3:45 p.m.
Collins confirmed that there were no injuries. He said it was unclear whether the tank was being cleaned at the time of the detonation.
Collins said the refinery continues to operate and that no evacuations took place at the plant or at surrounding homes.
Druten said the area around the tank was shut down and secured, and that an investigation has been launched to determine what caused the accident.
A news release issued by the company said there were no reports of any impact on the surrounding community.
The 103-employee plant processes vacuum gas oil, a byproduct of Paramount Petroleum's Long Beach-area refining operations.
The Bakersfield refinery was scheduled to cease production for two weeks in December while it undergoes routine maintenance.
The refinery sat idle for about 28 months until Alon reopened it in June. The company bought it out of bankruptcy from the former owner, Utah-based Flying J Inc.
The refinery processes more than 10,000 barrels of gas oil a day, turning it into roughly 300,000 gallons of diesel and 140,000 gallons or more of gasoline daily. It also makes smaller amounts of propane, butane and other petroleum products.
About 45 firefighters from the Kern?County?Fire Department and Bakersfield Fire Department responded to the refinery fire after Wednesday's explosion.
