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Last updated on Thursday, August 28, 2014
(UNDATED) - A process unit on the north end of the BP Refinery in Whiting exploded and caught fire last night, shaking residents’ homes and sending a large plume of smoke into the air.
BP spokesman Scott Dean says the refinery's own fire department responded and put out the fire about two hours after it broke out.
One employee was taken to a local hospital as a precaution but was later released.
Whiting fire officials said BP notified the department the fire ignited after a compressor in one of the refinery's units blew up. The blast was heard as far away as Highland and Griffith.
Wednesday's explosion came on the 59th anniversary of a blast at the refinery that rained debris down on the city, killing a 3-year-old boy as he slept and causing fires at the refinery that burned for eight days.
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