On March 22, 2021, at approximately 12:30 p.m., an explosion and fire occurred at a Refinery. The explosion and fire seriously injured one contract worker
Leading up to the incident, the refinery was shut down for turnaround maintenance. The planned maintenance work included removing a section of carbon steel piping in the Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit that typically contained gasoline.
Two days before the incident, on March 20, 2021, 50 gallons of chemical cleaning water containing hydrocarbons were released when workers opened a flange to install a blind (metal plate) to isolate a section of 18-inch piping.
On March 22, 2021, the day of the incident, the 18-inch piping was isolated with the blind at one end and the other end transitioning to a section of 10-inch piping open to the atmosphere with drain piping between the blind and the open 10-inch end. To remove the piping, Phillips 66 tasked a crew of contract workers to cut the 18-inch piping at the location shown in Figure 2.
