Massive fire erupts at Chevron refinery in El Segundo, sending plumes across South Bay

Clara Harter and Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times on Oct 3, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — An explosion and fire rocked a refinery in El Segundo on Thursday night, causing massive plumes of flames that could be seen for miles.

The city of El Segundo said that there was a fire at the Chevron refinery but that there is no public threat or evacuation orders in a 10:10 p.m. alert.

Videos taken when the explosion occurred around 9:30 p.m. showed an massive fireball erupt amid a loud extended roar. But over the next hour the flames died down considerably.

The plumes of smoke were visible for miles in the El Segundo and South Bay area and fire personnel were on scene shooting streams of water at the fire. The refinery has its own fire department and other regional agencies assisted in the response.

In north Redondo Beach, a massive orange glow was visible and smoke was billowing across the sky Thursday night.

Julian Reese, 13, said he and his dad felt a major blast just after 9:30 p.m. and then ran outside, seeing the flames fill the sky.

At Aviation Park, just a few miles from the Chevron plant, Mark Rogers was playing in his weekly adult soccer league when the apparent explosion took place.

“I thought we got nuked or something,” said Rogers, 34. The referee ended up canceling their soccer game minutes after it started because of the heavy smoke.

Residents were urged to stay home and traffic was diverted away from the scene of the blaze.