SHREVEPORT, La. — A three-alarm fire sent up a large plume of black smoke over a Shreveport refinery Thursday after area residents reported an explosion. No injuries were reported.
The fire at the Calumet Lubricants plant was reported at 7:50 a.m. Shreveport Fire Department spokesman Fred Sanders said the fire appeared to be in a single storage tank. He said plant officials told him the tank held waste water and oil sludge.
Firefighters were using foam to suppress the flames. If that doesn’t work, Sanders said, the fire was expected to burn itself out by midday.
No evacuations were ordered.
Refinery spokeswoman Liz Swaine said a “sour water tank” was involved. Sour water is a waste water from the refining process.
Swaine said the isolated tank, which is surrounded by a protective moat, exploded when a coating of oil caught fire. The tank burned and collapsed.
“We don’t know what caused” the fire to begin, Swaine said.