A giant fire erupted at a refinery along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish late this morning, though no injuries were reported and the blaze’s cause was uncertain, multiple media outlets reported.
Officials at Motiva’s Convent Refinery, situated on the riverbank between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, say plant firefighters battled a fire in one of its units, The Associated Press reports. General Manager Hugues Bourgogne told The AP in a statement the fire started about 10:50 a.m. He did not say what started it.
Witnesses have told other local media outlets there was an explosion. It took firefighters a little over an hour to contain the massive blaze, which was located in the refinery’s H-Oil unit, WAFB-TV reports.
Bourgogne said Motiva initiated its emergency response plan and deployed plant firefighters to respond to the fire. St. James Parish spokesman Brandon Keller says no injuries had been reported.
Chief Ryan Louque of the neighboring St. James Fire Department told The AP that the Motiva refinery is dealing with the fire itself, and no public fire departments are involved. Television video from the scene showed flames in the center of the plant.
Air quality testing is being performed to determine whether or not the fire will have any offsite impact, according to WAFB-TV.
The refinery produces conventional petroleum products including regular, premium and low-sulfur gasoline. Motiva is owned equally by subsidiaries of Saudi Aramco and Shell Oil Company.
