A fire broke out at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Montana and was extinguished early Sunday, the company said, and the units involved have been shut while crews stabilize operations.
There were no injuries reported in the blaze that broke out just before 10 p.m. local time Saturday at the facility near Lockwood, Montana, east of Billings. Multiple crews, including the Billings Fire Department, were at the scene and the fire was reported extinguished several hours later.
#Breaking Huge explosion reported at Exxon refinery in #Lockwood Montana. Exxon official says no reports of injuries @Breaking911 pic.twitter.com/GrQrmXoct6
— 🅷🆄🅶🅷🅴🆂 🆆🅸🆃🅷 🆃🅷🅴 🅽🅴🆆🆂 (@NHughesNews) March 27, 2022
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, a company spokesperson said. “We are working diligently to better understand the incident and continue to cooperate with authorities,” the statement added.
Air monitoring in the community showed no adverse readings from the fire, and units touched by the blaze have been shut as crews assess the scene, the company said.
Exxon is the largest US oil producer. The refinery, which started operations in 1949, spans 720 acres with processing capacity of about 60,000 barrels of crude per day, according to the company’s website. The facility produces about 600 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel each year.
The products are distributed to areas including Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Washington, Idaho and parts of Nevada.