Video: Los Angeles Sky Turns Orange As Fire Breaks Out At Chevron's Oil Refinery

A fireball lit up the night sky in Los Angeles on Thursday after an explosion that led to a massive fire at a Chevron refinery in LA County's El Segundo area. Authorities in El Segundo, California, urged people to stay indoors while firefighting operations were underway.

Videos shared on social media by residents in El Segundo -- a coastal suburb a few miles south of the Los Angeles International Airport -- showed towering flames rising from the refinery with a loud, extended rumble.

🇺🇲 El Segundo: Chevron refinery fire. https://t.co/aLuWeyEyqm pic.twitter.com/KA2K34NmHN

— Argonaut (@FapeFop90614) October 3, 2025

"I thought we got nuked or something," Mike Rogers, an LA resident, told the New York Post. Rogers's adult soccer league match was cancelled moments after the fire erupted because of the heavy smoke from the fire.

In a statement issued about 30 minutes after the flames began, authorities said there was no immediate threat to public safety and no evacuations had been ordered. There are also no reports of any casualties in the incident at the time of filing this report.

explosion and massive fire erupts at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo. Towering flames and billowing smoke can be seen for miles all around the Southland pic.twitter.com/Ow6ImQ4Une

— ZoomCenter (@ZoomCenter) October 3, 2025

Neither local authorities nor Chevron said anything about what caused the fire, which appears to have erupted suddenly.

LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell told the outlet that firefighter crews contained the blaze to one area of the refinery and that residents did not have to evacuate. 

"It has been contained, and there is no cause for alarm for El Segundo or the surrounding areas," Mitchell said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's office said he "has been briefed on the incident at Chevron's El Segundo refinery in Los Angeles County."

"Our office is coordinating in real time with local and state agencies to protect the surrounding community and ensure public safety," his press office said on X.

According to Chevron's website, the El Segundo facility is the largest oil refinery on the US West Coast, processing more than 276,000 barrels of crude per day, including gasoline, jet and diesel fuels. The refinery covers roughly 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometres) and has more than 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometres) of pipelines. The facility has been in operation since 1911 and is California's second-biggest oil refinery, according to state records.