Two Injured in Fire at PBF's Delaware City Refinery

PBF Energy said a fire that occurred at one operating unit at its Delaware City, Delaware, refinery on Wednesday has been extinguished and two employees are being treated for injuries. According to energy intelligence service Genscape, the fire is believed to have occurred at the 182,200 barrel-per-day refinery’s alkylation unit. The refinery was expected to shut its alkylation unit in February-March 2020 for maintenance, according to a source familiar with the plant’s operations.

The company said the fire was reported around 1:40 p.m. EDT and all employees and contractors have been accounted for. The cause of the fire was unknown and an investigation will be conducted, PBF said in an emailed response.

“Ambulances, medics and two medevac helicopters responded to the scene for reported injuries,” said a local media report.

A Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) camera showed “thick, black smoke with embedded flames shooting from the ground and also from a nearby smokestack,” according to the report.

(Reporting by Swati Verma; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Cynthia Osterman)