Firefighters extinguished a fire at the Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo, California, on Friday morning after flames erupted the previous night and were visible for miles. City officials had urged residents to stay indoors as the fire sent large plumes into the air, but by early Friday it was contained and no evacuations were ordered.
“All roads have been reopened after last night’s Chevron fire,” according to a statement from the city of El Segundo. A Chevron spokesperson confirmed later that morning that “following Chevron’s active response along with support from the cities of El Segundo and Manhattan Beach emergency services, the fire is now out.” The company added that it has launched an internal investigation to determine what caused the incident.
Air quality monitors in and around El Segundo did not show significant pollution concerns Friday morning. However, the South Coast Air Quality Management District reported elevated levels of volatile organic compounds overnight near the refinery. The agency said weather conditions such as drizzle and light winds kept most of the plume aloft but warned this could change if winds picked up later in the day. Residents were encouraged to check real-time air quality updates and remain indoors with windows closed if smoke or high pollution levels were detected.
“The situation is evolving, and we continue to monitor it closely,” stated the air quality agency.
Chevron reported that the fire started around 9:30 p.m. Thursday at a processing unit on the southeast corner of its El Segundo facility, which is located about a mile south of Los Angeles International Airport. Some nearby residents described feeling a rumble before seeing orange flames light up the sky. “Pretty much the whole sky was orange,” said Sam Daugherty, who lives 10 blocks away.
There were no injuries among refinery staff, according to Chevron, and monitoring systems indicated that flames did not spread beyond facility boundaries.
Local authorities monitored developments through Thursday night. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office coordinated with state and local agencies to protect surrounding communities. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass posted on X (formerly Twitter) that there was no known impact on airport operations.
A shelter-in-place order for Manhattan Beach was lifted Friday morning. Beaches remained open throughout, with Los Angeles County crews reporting little ash accumulation.
Chevron has deployed health and safety teams to conduct mobile air quality checks in neighborhoods around El Segundo.
The El Segundo refinery covers about 1.5 square miles and operates more than 1,100 miles of pipelines; it can process up to 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day into gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, and other products. The site has experienced several fires over recent years—the most recent prior incident occurred in 2022—and faced regulatory penalties for past incidents elsewhere in California.
