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Fire at Exxon in Baton Rouge extinguished following overnight inferno

4 years 9 months 1 week ago Wednesday, February 12 2020 Feb 12, 2020 February 12, 2020 11:00 PM February 12, 2020 in News
Source: WBRZ TV

UPDATE: ExxonMobil says passersby may notice flaring at its Baton Rouge refinery Thursday. The flaring is part of normal operations and is no cause for alarm, ExxonMobil said.

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BATON ROUGE - A large fireball erupted within the Exxon refinery in north Baton Rouge late Tuesday night, and as of 6:45 a.m. Wednesday the blaze was completely extinguished.

Shortly after the fire broke out, the Baton Rouge Fire Department was on the scene, arriving just after midnight. Exxon posted on Twitter that its fire crew had the blaze contained to the area where it occurred.

There were no injuries, and specific information related to the cause of the fire has not been released. 

The Baton Rouge Fire Department said there was no off-site impact, but officials are continuing to monitor the facility fence line and surrounding areas of the North Baton Rouge community. They say at this point, "all readings are non-detect" but they're continuing to conduct air monitoring.

Officials plan to launch a thorough investigation into the incident to find out exactly what caused the fire. 

East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome praised first responders for their swift response to the incident.

   WATCH: Overnight interview with Baton Rouge Fire Dept. 

Watch eyewitness videos

An eyewitness recorded shocking video of the fireball from I-110.  Click HERE to see the video.

Another eyewitness recorded video from near the plant's fence line.  Click HERE to see the video.

Video shared with WBRZ recorded near the epicenter of the event showed the fire raging; At some points of the video, power lines or transformers appear to burst as the fire burned through equipment.  Watch the video from close to the center of the fire HERE.

Statements from Exxon

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