An explosion at Regina’s Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) early Tuesday sent part of the site into flames.
At 5:30 p.m., CRC said they issued an “all clear” on site.
Regina fire said it was called to the oil refinery at around 4:45 a.m. to assist but the CRC’s own fire crews had the blaze under control.
CRC said the fire was isolated to a specific unit in the Refinery and that unit is shut down and in a safe state. The rest of the Refinery remains operational and producing fuel.
In a statement from Unifor Local 594, the union representing the refinery workers, they say the “fire was quickly contained by our highly skilled process first responders with the assistance of the Regina Fire Dept, Police and EMS.”
“We are grateful for the immediate response to protect our workplace and surrounding community.”
Two people were assessed for minor injuries according to CRC.
Flames and smoke could be seen kilometres away coming from the site and the shockwave emitted from the explosion was strong enough to rock the Global News building nearby.
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Regina fire’s deputy chief Glen Wagner tells Global News the fire stemmed from a product on one of the refinery lines.
Global News spoke to Regina residents in the area about the explosion. For most, they didn’t hear it as it was early in the morning.
But for some restless sleepers, it was enough to jar them awake.
“Our house was shaking,” Regina resident Tony Benkovich said. “It has happened before but our dog was scared.”
One other resident wasn’t sure what had happened, but he was unexpectedly woken up around the time of the explosion.
“There was something that woke me up around 4:45 a.m. I didn’t hear it, but something woke me up,” Jim Smalley said.
The incident is now under investigation.
This is not the first time there have been fires and explosions at the refinery. A fire broke out there in 2020 but was extinguished quickly and in 2013 an explosion occurred on Christmas Eve caused by a frozen, ruptured pipe.
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