Residents shelter in place during fire at Valero Benicia refinery

BENICIA –  A fire at the Valero refinery on Monday morning prompted a shelter in place warning for Benicia residents and the surrounding areas as smoke billowed from the facility. 

The Benicia fire department responded to the fire at 8:45 a.m. The department immediately posted a notice recommending that residents remain inside if they can see or smell smoke. Solano and Contra Costa counties issued shelter in place warnings for specific areas impacted by the smoke.

The Benicia Unified School District issued a shelter in place order for students and staff at Robert Semple Elementary School, which is directly south of the refinery, and then extended the order district-wide.  

Not long after the fire started, strong winds from the north blew the plume of smoke south and dispersed it over the Carquinez Strait. 

Benicia firefighters received assistance from the Vallejo and Fairfield fire departments as well as from the Contra Costa Fire Protection District, according to Benicia fire spokesperson Della Olm. Olm said that the Benicia department is small and often receives mutual aid from two other departments but a third is somewhat unusual.

The fire department was able to control the fire by 10:38 a.m., according to a department notification. Shortly thereafter  public health agencies lifted the shelter in place warnings in portions of Solano and Contra Costa Counties.

A spokesperson for Valero said that no personnel were injured as a result of the incident and an investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

The fire comes as the refinery is slated to close next year. Valero officials notified the California Energy Commission on April 16 that they plan to “idle, restructure or cease refining operations” by the end of April 2026.

The announcement came on the heels of the city of Benicia’s adoption in March of a new ordinance increasing regulations on businesses producing hazardous materials that refinery officials strongly opposed.

However the company has claimed that it is California’s broader regulatory environment that led to the closure. 

The potential closure has Benicia city officials looking for a way to replace the revenue that the city receives from Valero which equates to $10 million a year or 10% of the city’s budget, according to Mayor Steve Young. 

The announcement also raised concerns about potential spikes in California gas prices especially with a Los Angeles Phillips 66 refinery slated to close at the end of the year. 

The refinery closures are proving to be a test of the state's resolve to maintain its aggressive steps toward reducing carbon emissions. Many of those steps, including the state’s requirement for all new cars and trucks sold in California to be zero emission vehicles by 2035, have recently come under attack in the U.S. House of Representatives.