ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH, La. — Marathon Petroleum personnel and first responders are working to put out a fire in St. John the Baptist Parish.
St. John Parish President Jaclyn Hoard has issued an emergency declaration and a mandatory evacuation for all residents within a two-mile radius of the Marathon Petroleum Garyville Refinery.
There was a naphtha release, and a fire started in a storage tank at the refinery. Naphtha is a flammable liquid that is used to make gasoline.
The product was leaking out of a storage tank and somehow ignited, According to a Justin Lawrence Marathon spokesman.
The fire started around 7 a.m. Parish officials and Marathon said the fire is contained within the refinery’s property.
Lawrence said the storage tank itself is not on fire – just the product currently contained in a storage containment dike next to the tank.
Firefighters from Marathon, surrounding plants, and local fire departments are on site trying to get the fire under control by spraying foam on the flames.
An air monitoring unit has been deployed to make sure there are no dangerous gases in the air near people’s homes and businesses.
At this point, we have not heard of any injuries either at the plant or in the surrounding neighborhood.
Parish officials have opened shelters at the following locations:
- East St. John Preparatory Academy Gym, 400 Ory Drive., LaPlace
- West St. John High School at 480 Hwy 3127 in Edgard.
Transportation is available if needed by calling 985-652-2222 or 985-652-6338. Residents are asked to bring medications and any other items they need to the shelter.
Fire at Marathon Petroleum in St. John the Baptist Parish
Michael King, a Reserve resident at the scene Friday morning, said he walked out the front door of his home this morning to a huge plume of smoke over Marathon.
"I drove past it before they had the river road blocked to see the flames and what to warn some people on the other side, woke them up, told them the refinery was on fire and then went back down to my house. And by that time, they had the river roadblock, so I grabbed my machine to try to get closer and see. The fire is about four times the size it was when I started looking at it this morning," King said.
East St. John Preparatory Academy has been placed under a shelter-in-place order due to a fire at Marathon Petroleum, according to St. John The Baptist Parish school district.
Also, Garyville/Mt. Airy Math and Science Magnet School - GMMS is releasing immediately, with district transportation bringing home students who normally ride the bus. Parents and guardians are asked to pick up students as soon as possible.
This is a developing story, and it will be updated with the latest information available.
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