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No sirens during Marathon fire, neighbors say

Those who live near the oil refinery in St. John Parish say they are frustrated with a lack of communication from the company.

GARYVILLE, La. — Ovidio Martinez has lived next to the Marathon Petroleum refinery in Garyville for 50 years. He has never seen anything like Friday morning's fire. 

"It was scary for everyone," he told WWL-TV at his home one street down from the refinery. Saturday, firefighting crews were still battling flare-ups, which repeatedly sent black smoke into the air. The smell of burning chemicals was still strong near the plant.

Despite this, the evacuation order for a 2-mile radius of the plant was lifted Friday, and Martinez and several of his neighbors on West 24th Street returned home.

Now, they are left to wonder why they did not hear warning sirens when the fire began. This, despite the fact that the refinery regularly tests them. "My neighbor down the street is the one that came and told me," Martinez said. "There was no alarm, no nothing, nobody came and warned us." 

As of Saturday, one of his neighbors is still waiting for an even bigger answer. Michael Coleman lives at the end of the street, closest to the plant, and on Saturday he was told to evacuate a second time because of his proximity to the fire. 

"Nobody mentioned when I'm going to be able to come back,"  Coleman said. 

The fire is the latest in a history of incidents at the Marathon plant. In the past, Martinez said, "the same thing happened, we weren't warned." 

WWL-TV has asked Marathon why there were no warning sirens Friday. The company has yet to respond. 

For both Martinez and Coleman, the fire represents another reason to move away from the street, which is wedged between the Marathon and Cargill plants. It is not an easy prospect. 

"I am 73 years of age, and it's hard to start again," Martinez said. "Thank God we're all doing great, my neighbors made it and that's what I'm glad about."

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