Chevron refinery explosion

RICHMOND, California -- Crews are responding to a large fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond.

Flames and at least two large plumes of black smoke are visible from as far away as the Bay Bridge and a shelter in place warning has been issued.
Check back for updates.

Pics from friends/outside.




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Literally not too long ago, so there isn't much information.

Fu'ck me man....was just about to leave and now there's a city-wide lockdown.

What is Chevron

when you said richmond I thought it was our capital over here.

I hope everyone is okay, pineapple explosions irl
chevron is a petroleum refinery.

What is Chevron

An oil company.

Why is there a lockdown? What if fire spreads but there's still a lockdown?

At first I thought this was happening here, in Richmond, MI but then I remembered Chevron doesn't exist here.

Still sucks, this is already giving me Exxon oil spill teas

Why is there a lockdown? What if fire spreads but there's still a lockdown?

Chemicals in the air mainly. We'd be exposed if we had windows and doors open or if we were just outside. Train stations are shut down, the bridges are all closed, and no one is advised to go outside. I don't think we'll ever be in a position where the fires will spread with their procedures, quick response from the entire fire department (or so it seems), and other things.

I feel like this is how zombie apocalypses start...

The cloud was so fricken thick during the day time that the damn cloud cast a shadow on the ground like it was an eclipse of the sun. It's crazy.

I feel like this is how zombie apocalypses start...

My parents have worked at a chemical plant for 30+ years each now; this is smalltime compared to some of the stuff they make there. Then again, their regulations are not even on the same level, they have so many safety procedures that most of the work day is just preparation...but that's pretty necessary when some of the chemicals you have entire silos of contain substances that can kill a human in a few drops/a tiny bit of vapor. Which has happened before on a few occasions, even with all that. Not to mention the plant is on a river...a few years ago they had their first water leak, that entire span of the river was quarantined and OSHA had a bitchfit with them for months.

Gas prices seem to have jumped 20 cents since last night....

Gas prices seem to have jumped 20 cents since last night....

Yeah. Gas prices are going to jump 15~30 cents because of the explosions.

What sucks along with that, is that prices already jumped ~10 - 20 cents before for some reason. We are back to about $4 a gallon around me.

This probably isn't the forum for it, but if gas prices are so dependent just on this refinery, there is something very wrong with how things are set up. This disappoints me greatly.

Its not dependent, but it is definitely affected by it.

My cynical take is that it's not dependent to that extent, but any excuse to raise prices is good.

Gas around here is about $8 a gallon, btw.

My cynical take is that it's not dependent to that extent, but any excuse to raise prices is good.

It's not cynical if it's absolutely true. An mid-sized country full of oil exploding would not effect the world market by 20 cents *if the market on oil worked correctly*, yet a wild guess of a future stock of a single refinery in a small country can somehow instantly raise the price 30 cents. Then when it is proven to be an incorrect assessment, it will drop back down. By about 10 cents. Rinse and repeat.

At least your cars are cheap. Where I live gas is worth about 0.06 a gallon but cars costs 4 times more...