OneOk in Medford on Fire

[Okie4570]

No trouble seeing it from here at the house, south half of Medford being evacuated. Haven't heard any other details, our county EM is on scene, waiting to hear some details.

Edit: all if Medford being evacuated. North wind so smoke isn't an issue for residents, explosion risk is though.

 

[Poke78]

No trouble seeing it from here at the house, south half of Medford being evacuated. Haven't heard any other details, our county EM is on scene, waiting to hear some details.

It's been a minute since I've been up that way so please remind me...Is that a compressor/processing station or a storage field?

 

[Okie4570]

It's been a minute since I've been up that way so please remind me...Is that a compressor/processing station or a storage field?

Natural gas storage and processing and other hydrocarbon gases, miles and miles of underground storage. I'm about 50 miles away.

 

[SlugSlinger]

 

[wawazat]

Hoping for no injuries inside or outside the plant. It is an extremely dangerous career that can make it far too easy to get complacent. Not implying complacency had any role here, but it is VERY easy to forget how dangerous something is when we are around it and in it every day.

 

[ttown]

They should have their own fire dept and very well trained. Keep us posted.

 

[Profreedomokie]

I just talked to a friend in Medford that has worked there part time. Only half the town was evacuated and nobody was hurt as far as he knows. Two of three hydrocarbon alarms went off and an operator hit a diverter button that cuts flow to the plant and everyone left. If a system that shuts all the valves wasn't activated, the fire will burn until all the vessels drain.

 

[SlugSlinger]

I saw on a news report that there were no injuries. That is amazing.

The pics of the fire looks like it’s going to be a total loss. I’ve tried to find what exactly the plant does and it appears from what I’ve found, it’s a 180k frac plant.

 

[Profreedomokie]

After 40 years in a refinery, I can tell you many things can cause such a fire. Piping wears thin and can blow out if you don't keep up on inspections. Valve packing can leak products that are so hot that they ignite when they get to air. Mechanical seals on pumps blow out and cause fires. Level indicators on towers or tanks can malfunction and cause overflows. Bearings can go out on pumps or motors and cause fires. Lightning and even operator error are also causes. I'm sure there are many other causes I haven't thought of. A refinery is not a very forgiving environment. Hot liquids, poisonous and flammable gases aren't to be taken lightly.

 

[retrieverman]

I was through there a couple hours ago, and they’ve got Hwy 11 blocked 5 miles out on the east and west side of Medford. They detoured us north a mile then west to Hwy 81 to get into town and back on 11. There were a lot of people gathered at the fire station that looked like evacuees.
This was taken from the west side of Medford on Hwy 11.