Delek Vice President of Public Affairs Michael Ralsky confirmed Tuesday that no one was injured in a fire that broke out at the El Dorado refinery Monday evening.
"Zero injuries, thankfully," he said.
The fire broke out at 6:01 p.m., Ralsky said, after lightning struck a slurry tank located in the refinery's tank farm. Delek's on-site fire brigade responded immediately, and the El Dorado Fire Department assisted with the response.
"It's standard practice. We drill regularly with all our local first responders," Ralsky said, referring to reporting the fire to the local fire department.
El Dorado Fire Chief Chad Mosby said medical personnel also responded to the fire.
Neighborhoods surrounding the refinery were not evacuated, Mosby said.
Monday evening's incident follows a 2021 fire at the refinery that left six workers injured, as well as a 2019 fire that caused several residents living near the facility to voluntarily evacuate.
Ralsky said environmental monitoring at Delek showed no adverse air quality impacts as a result of the fire. Union County Emergency Management Coordinator Bruce Goff said he expects the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment (formerly the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality) to investigate.
"They're going to be following up with Delek and making sure everything goes good," Goff said. "They've been notified."
Carol Booth, chief of communications at the ADEE, confirmed that air monitoring readings following the fire did not show an impact from the incident.
"The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment Division of Environmental Quality, including the department's emergency management team, will continue to work closely with Delek and monitor this incident to ensure it remains contained," she said in an email.
The fire at the refinery was extinguished by 7:20 p.m., Ralsky said.
He said he doesn't expect the fire to have long-lasting impacts.
"We don't anticipate any operational impact due to the fire," he said.
Goff responded to the fire as well, he said, communicating with the ADEE and staying on stand-by in case he was needed.
"I went to their command post, was just on stand-by in case they needed me, but I let them take care of it," he said.
He said he did not know of any other damage caused by Monday evening's storms.
"I'm not aware of anything other than what happened at Delek," he said.