3 injured after fire at Delaware County refinery; shelter-in-place order lifted

This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.

From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.

Delaware County officials said a large fire at the Monroe Energy petroleum refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, has been contained as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Three people were injured, county officials said. Two of the injuries were heat stress-related and “not expected to be critical.” A third person suffered a burn injury and was airlifted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to receive treatment, per the county, and officials did not have more information on the person’s current condition.

According to Monroe Energy officials, that person is a Monroe Energy employee whose injuries are not considered to be life-threatening.

As of 3:15 p.m., the county lifted a shelter-in-place order for those within a half-mile radius of the fire on the 4100 block of Post Road.

County officials said clean-up efforts are underway. Officials from the city of Chester are urging residents to avoid the refinery area.

The county encourages residents to sign up for Delco Alert notifications for further updates.

Refinery fire spurs regionwide response from Pa., N.J.

Company officials said in a statement that the fire began at 11:30 a.m. in the process unit pump room. Videos showed a large plume of black smoke rising over the neighborhood early Thursday afternoon.

The refinery’s on-site fire response team responded immediately, company officials said, “deploying multiple emergency response resources, including fire and foam tanker vehicles, mobile deluge guns, and stationary high flow firewater suppression systems.”

The county’s Department of Emergency Services coordinated agency responses, county officials said. The state Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, Trainer Office of Emergency Management, Gloucester County OEM/Hazmat, Philadelphia OEM and PennDOT are among the agencies that have been briefed.

Delaware County officials and a spokesman for Monroe Energy confirmed that the fire did not impact the unit that contains hydrogen fluoride. One of the most dangerous chemicals in use, it is integral to the refining of high-octane gasoline. Hydrogen fluoride was released during the 2019 explosion of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia but did not cause any deaths or injuries.

How is Delaware County impacted?

County officials said that air-quality monitoring has not indicated any unsafe levels of volatile organic compounds in the area.

Monroe Energy officials also said that perimeter air monitoring results show no risk to community members at this time.

“The safety and health of the residents is paramount, and we are working closely with local emergency response officials and making all agency notifications to convey pertinent information to our community,” the company said in the statement.

William Govens saw the thick, black plume of smoke earlier Thursday from his home on Post Road across the street from the refinery.

“It was scary,” he said.

Govens didn’t receive any evacuation orders, he said, and couldn’t smell the smoke, which was blowing north away from his home.

He and his sister, Frances Govens, were planning to go grocery shopping Thursday afternoon, but were unable to leave because of the road closures.

“We just watched it, you know, wasn’t like there was any scents or bad fumes coming this way, it was just a heavy smoke, heavy black smoke kept pouring out from the back of that building over there,” William Govens said.

Frances Govens said that once the fire was controlled, they detected a smell “like rubber.”

“They would have given us a warning and told us we had to evacuate if it was real bad, so they didn’t do that, they would have given us a warning,” she said. “So we just [sat] out here and watched them pretty much put everything out.”

Company officials said they will investigate the cause of the fire.

Monroe Energy has nearly 500 employees and processes an average of 185,000 barrels per day. Products include jet fuel, gasoline, diesel fuel and home heating oil.