Fire crews last week visited Hobsons Bay’s two biggest petrochemical companies after reports of fires.
Alarmed residents called the Metropolitan Fire Brigade when they thought Mobil’s Altona refinery was ablaze. But black smoke and flaring on Wednesday afternoon was “product” burning off due to a refinery shutdown, according to a Mobil spokeswoman.
Four fire trucks attended.
A truck attended Altona plastics manufacturer Qenos on Tuesday last week after insulation caught fire near a furnace.
Sheila Freeman was among residents who feared Mobil had caught fire after witnessing smoke and flames.
“My husband and I were driving along Maddox Road, Newport, and saw two large plumes of black smoke,” she said.
“We turned into Kororoit Creek Road and saw two chimneys at Mobil flaring, saw two fire engines leaving the site. Are we really safe?”
Mobil spokeswoman Melanie Saliba said one of the refinery’s process units had shut down about 1.35pm.
“At the time of the shutdown, the refinery’s safety mechanisms worked, as intended, to safely stop refinery processes, as required,” she said.
“Initially there was a noticeable increase in black smoke associated with the flaring, which was due to an insufficient amount of steam being available.”
MFB spokeswoman Heather Stockton said the Qenos fire had been minor and was quickly brought under control. “The fire was contained to one of the pipes,” she said.
Qenos spokesman Rod Coughlin said the fire was caused by silicone touching a hot pipe. “At no point was there any danger to our people or our community,” he said.
Smoke was visible over Altona North and Laverton on Tuesday as the Department of Environment and Primary Industries conducted planned burns.
