UPDATE: As of 9:00am, officials at Shell Norco says the fire is out.
"Our team, in coordination with St. Charles Parish emergency responders and our mutual aid partners, successfully extinguished the onsite fire. Air monitoring conducted by Shell and independent third‑party providers confirmed that no elevated levels were detected at any point during the incident. There were no injuries associated with this event."
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Previous story:
Fire broke out Monday night at the Shell facility in Norco.
St. Charles Parish authorities say that as of early this morning crews were still working to put out the blaze.
“Shell Norco, parish emergency response teams, and our mutual aid partners continue to work to extinguish the fire at the site,” Parish Public Information Officer Francesca Holt Blanchard posted. “There are currently no offsite impacts to residents.”
She says all personnel are safe and accounted for.
What about any chemicals in the air?
“Air monitoring by Shell and independent third‑party providers has not detected any elevated levels and will remain in place throughout the incident.”
Shell said the flames erupted in one of Shell Norco’s process units.
“Shell and parish emergency response teams are on site and actively working to extinguish the fire. At this time, there is no shelter-in-place advisory for the community, and no injuries have been reported.”
They refine oil and make a number of other chemicals at the facility.
“Norco is home to Shell Oil Products US (Refining) and Shell Chemicals. The Refinery is designed to convert approximately 250,000 barrels per day of ‘medium sweet’ crude oil. Chemicals manufactures ethylene, propylene and butadiene that are used to make many everyday materials and end products.”
