A shelter-in-place order was lifted in the area around the Tesoro refinery in the Carson and Wilmington area Friday evening hours after a sulfur tank ruptured and created a plume that towered above the facility.
Los Angeles County firefighters were called to the refinery — near Alameda and East 223rd streets — about 1:20 p.m.
A “rupture” occurred about 1 p.m. at a sulfur tank in the Wilmington portion of the refinery, a Tesoro Corp. spokesman said in a statement. A small fire at the tank site was quickly extinguished.
Debris was scattered on the ground around the tank, which appeared heavily damaged, aerial video from Sky5 showed.
“An emergency response team at the refinery is responding to the situation,” the statement read. “At this time we have not detected any harmful levels of toxins.”
Responders were working to stop a “steam plume” rising from the tank, the company said. Air quality was being monitored.
All personnel near the explosion have been accounted for and no injuries were reported, according to the statement.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued a shelter-in-place order for a quarter-mile radius around the refinery. Only four businesses in the largely industrial area were affected by the order, the company said.
No evacuations were requested, Tesoro said.
Alameda Street was temporarily closed from 223rd Street to East Sepulveda Boulevard, and people were urged to avoid the area. The road was reopened around 7 p.m.
The facility’s own fire department is the primary responding agency, county fire Inspector Richard Licon said.
The Tesoro Los Angeles Refinery has addresses at 2350 E. 223rd St. in Carson and 2101 East Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington. The facility spans Carson and the northern reaches of the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The cause of the incident was under investigation, Tesoro said.
KTLA’s Jennifer Thang and Matt Phillips contributed to this article.