The fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California in 2012 was what type of fire?

The fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California in 2012 was what type of fire?

• A. Pool fire
• B. Flash fire
• C. Ground fire
• D. Vapor phase fire

Answer: (D)

In this kind of fire, what matters is where the fuel is burning. If hydrocarbons escape into the air as a vapor and then ignite, the flames are burning the vapor itself, not a liquid sitting on the ground. That creates a vapor-cloud, or vapor-phase, fire. For the Richmond refinery incident, the hydrocarbons leaked and formed a cloud in the air, which ignited and burned as a flame through the vapor. There wasn’t a substantial liquid pool on the ground driving the fire, and the ignition didn’t just cause a brief flash of flame; the fire persisted as the vapor burned. That’s why it’s described as a vapor-phase fire.

In this kind of fire, what matters is where the fuel is burning. If hydrocarbons escape into the air as a vapor and then ignite, the flames are burning the vapor itself, not a liquid sitting on the ground. That creates a vapor-cloud, or vapor-phase, fire.

For the Richmond refinery incident, the hydrocarbons leaked and formed a cloud in the air, which ignited and burned as a flame through the vapor. There wasn’t a substantial liquid pool on the ground driving the fire, and the ignition didn’t just cause a brief flash of flame; the fire persisted as the vapor burned. That’s why it’s described as a vapor-phase fire.