Baytown,TX ExxonMobil Refinery Explosion & Fire 12/23/2021

The Baytown Refinery (one of the largest in the world) was built in 1917 by the Humble Refining Company (later Standard Oil, then Exxon, then ExxonMobil) to refine oil from the Humble oil field just east of the present Houston Bush Airport. It was the southern origin of the "little big inch" pipeline built in 1943-44 for the war effort. It is about eighty miles west of the iconic Spindletop oil drilling blowout in 1901. This event introduced the concept of the "wildcatter" (see Giant, movie).
About 2500 yards west of the gasoline unit, across the Houston Ship Channel, lies the hallowed ground of the Battle of San Jacinto (4/21/1836). Described as one of the turning points of history, Sam Houston's ragtag troops defeated the Mexican Army of Santa Ana in less than 30 minutes. It is also the birthplace of the legend of New York native Emily Morgan; better known as the "Yellow Rose of Texas". Removing Mexican influence allowed the opening of the "Great American West".
Some say that the Baytown Refinery won World War II. Reportedly, during the war, this was the largest and, at least for a while, the only producer of aviation gasoline (up to 130 octane) in the world. The significantly improved engine performance gave the Allied air forces the needed edge.

And, like the old boy says....Gasoline. hell, if it didn't burn, no one would use it!
 
entropychaser said:
This was handled in-house. I'm sure Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA) responded. This facility is almost five and a half square miles in size, and just started a two billion dollar expansion.
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Based on your descriptions of the facility I'm sure they have a pretty large in-house fire brigade. Do you have any idea what they have in house?
 
Bulldog said:
Based on your descriptions of the facility I'm sure they have a pretty large in-house fire brigade. Do you have any idea what they have in house?
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I have no idea. Due to security concerns, they may not want you to know. I note that CIMA is a large organization that doesn't have much on its' website.
 
entropychaser said:
This was handled in-house. I'm sure Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA) responded. This facility is almost five and a half square miles in size, and just started a two billion dollar expansion.
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Got ya. Do you have the name of the Fire Bridge that was there?
 
fdny747 said:
I found this
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I don't know other than the in house equipment. You may want to take a look at Williams Fire and Hazard Control in Aldine near the airport, Also, look up the great David White (or whoever followed him) at Industrial Fire World in Bryan. David knew everything and everybody when it came to industrial firefighting.
 
This is a link to the apparatus list from fireWiki

fire.fandom.com

ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery Fire Department

The Baytown Refinery complex is located on 3,400 acres along the Houston Ship Channel, some 25 miles east of Houston. This complex includes the Baytown Olefins Plant. The facility has a daytime population of around 7,000 workers and can process up to 584,000 barrels of crude oil daily. All...
fire.fandom.com fire.fandom.com
 
2795 said:
This is a link to the apparatus list from fireWiki

fire.fandom.com

ExxonMobil Baytown Refinery Fire Department

The Baytown Refinery complex is located on 3,400 acres along the Houston Ship Channel, some 25 miles east of Houston. This complex includes the Baytown Olefins Plant. The facility has a daytime population of around 7,000 workers and can process up to 584,000 barrels of crude oil daily. All...
fire.fandom.com fire.fandom.com
Click to expand...
I would think for a complex of that size they would have a lot more equipment than that.
 
I have a buddy on Baytown. Their local’s Facebook page said they sent a medic and a BC, so it was definitely handled in house.
 
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