Husky Refinery Explosions: Evacuation Orders Lifted

SUPERIOR, WI — Officials have lifted a mass-evacuation order for the nearly 27,000 people living near or around the Husky Oil Refinery in Superior after explosions and fire erupted at the facility Thursday.

Superior Mayor Jim Payne said all evacuation orders - which were enforced by police by going door-to-door in many neighborhoods - were lifted at 6 a.m. Friday. “All indications are that the refinery is safe and stable and the air quality is clean and normal," he said in a public statement.

On Thursday night, eight hours after a series of explosions and a massive fire were first reported at the Husky Energy refinery, Payne relayed a message to residents living in the more than 70 square miles around the plant: "Breathe easy, this fire is out."

Just after 7 p.m. Thursday, Gov. Scott Walker tweeted that he was on his way to Superior to speak with local officials and to get a report of the damage.

Explosions Rock Superior Area

Initial explosions that occurred at about 10 a.m. Thursday injured at least 11 people, the Associated Press reports. The Superior Fire Department intially reported there could have been up to "20 casualties." There were no deaths, however, Deb Stein of Douglas County Emergency Management told Patch.

A second round of explosions happened at about 12:30 p.m. A report out of CBC News says that a tank containing crude oil or asphalt exploded, prompting fire officials to urge people living near the still-burning plant to leave their homes.

Throughout the day, firefighters struggled to approach the blaze, which was fueled by industrial chemicals and petroleum products, according to multiple reports, including the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

By late afternoon, a crew of about 30 firefighters was able to get "enough water and enough water pressure" to quell the flames and eventually extinguish it, the newspaper reported.

A Husky Energy spokesperson said the fire broke out in the fluidized catalytic cracking area of the refinery. This is the area of the refinery where crude oil is separated or "cracked" into different petroleum products.

Workers Hospitalized

Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth is treating five of the 11 people injured in the explosion, one with a serious blast injury and the other four with non-life-threatening injuries.

"We called in extra physicians and staff, notified our Burn ICU, set up a decontamination area, if needed, and our family assistance center," officials said.

Five more patients are being treated at St. Mary's Hospital in Superior with non-life-threatening injuries, hospital staff said Thursday. One patient is being treated at St. Luke's hospital in Duluth.

About 180 people work at the facility, which is the only refinery in Wisconsin. The facility provides the region with gasoline, asphalt and other specialty petroleum products, the Star Tribune reported. Roughly 50,000 barrels of oil can be processed there every day.

Residents Evacuated

Throughout Thursday morning and afternoon, authorities asked residents to evacuate area 10 miles to the south and three miles to the northeast and west of the Husky Energy Refinery due to heavy smoke. Authorities also advised all Superior public schools to evacuate to the Amsoil headquarters at 1101 Susquehanna Ave. Reports out of Superior later Thursday afternoon indicated that Essentia St Mary's hospital on Tower Avenue in Superior was also being evacuated as a precaution. Police blocked roads around the refinery. About 27,000 people live in Superior. The evacuation orders lasted until 6 a.m. Friday, and residents were finally allowed to return to their homes, workplaces and schools in the area.

A 'Sonic Boom'

Neighbors said the first explosion Thursday morning shook homes. A contractor inside the building told WDIO-TV it sounded like "a sonic boom."

Douglas County Emergency Management Director Keith Kesler told Wisconsin Public Radio that he had arrived at the scene around 10:30 a.m.

"We do have people hurt," he told the station.

Superior Police Chief Nick Alexander told the station they were alerted to a fire just after 10 a.m.

"Typically fires that have the potential to be a larger scale, which something involving a refinery where there’s combustible materials and so on, we basically respond to assist the fire department and control access to the area, make sure that we’re stopping people from going into potentially an unsafe area," Alexander told the Star Tribune.

Husky Energy bought the refinery in November from Calumet for $492 million, the Duluth News Tribune reported.

Dan Hampton and Scott Anderson contributed to this report.

Image Via Douglas County Sheriff's Office