BREAKING NEWS - MASSIVE EXPLOSION AND FIRE - NJ [Actually, Staten Island NY: AM]

ME | 2/21/03 | SELF

[LonePalm]

I just turned and looked out my office window and saw a column of black smoke rising towards Union Beach/Perth Amboy NJ.

I then felt the force of an explosion rattle my window.

[Neets]

WOW that is some smoke...when I first looked at the picture, I thought I was looking at a mountain, then realized it was the plumes of smoke.

[finnman69]

[aristeides]

At the Black Tom explosion, several fires started simultaneously. That was sabotage.

[Howlin]

I can't even keep up lately. Of course, that would have been everybody's first thought though.

[Dog Gone]

49 reported dead, according to CNN and Bloomberg.

[Diana Rose]

I an glad I just had my propane tank topped off. I just called to find out the price was so they can not jack it up. They had not heard abut New York yet.

[myprecious]

I can't figure out why they would do it.

Perhaps a message about the scorched earth policy if Iraq is attacked?

[StriperSniper]

to isolate it on the water where it can't do anymore damage. Looks like the fuel is flowing out further on the water.

Lucky timing, it hit at high just about slack tide. That kept it contained in the area.

[mabelkitty]

Communist Cleveland. We had a river catch on fire in the 1970s, so it's like deja vu.

[Dog]

49???

[mhking]

That last shot is eerily reminiscent of the WTC smoke plume.

[HairOfTheDog]

Little boats hit the Cole and the Limbourg.

And there is undoubtedly a lot of little boats in New York. Random facts that are located near each other are not necessarily connected.

[mhking]

49 reported dead

49!?

[blam]

""Go fill up now!" Ever since we went orange, I have been topping off daily."

Good idea.

[John H K]

Remember last week during Valentine's Day there was a small boat floating around the Golden Gate Bridge and the cops were investingating it? The boat just disappeared and nobody knew what happened.
Now we may have figured it out!

I believe somebody later called authorities saying he thought he was the boat, his lights were not working.

One severe problem with FR is that after a zillion-post BREAKING scare story, when information explaining the incident and rendering it less scary rolls in a couple of days later, it's not posted in BREAKING, if it's posted at all, and hardly anyone notices it. So we get an endless buildup of info that isn't quite right remembered by people.

[finnman69]

From midtown it looked EXACTLY the same as it did on 9/11.

[freeperfromnj]

Refinery Fire On Staten Island

(Staten Island-WABC, February 21, 2003) — There is now a massive fire after an explosion at the Port Mobil Refinery on Staten Island. Police are just arriving on the scene.

It is a level three emergency for the FDNY. There is no word of injuries.

Thick, black plumes of smoke is now in the air. Again this is a three-alarm fire and it is a level three emergency. Many of the gas tanks at the refinery serve both industrial and residential customers. At this refinery, gasoline and other fuel products are produced. On the average, this refinery produces 55,000 barrels of gasoline a day. This refinery serves the entire East Coast.

This fire is about 10 miles from New York City. It is in the Port Mobil section of Staten Island off of Arthur Kill Road and Bloomingdale Road. This is the southwestern part of Staten Island. It is on a body of water so the NYPD and the FDNY will fight this blaze from the water. Unofficially, the fire started around 10:10 a.m. and has now been burning for 40 minutes.

The Office Of Emergency Management is advising that people on Staten Island to keep their windows closed and stay inside as a precautionary measure.

Neighbors down the street from this refinery felt the blast from the explosion and had their windows broken.

Parts of Woodbridge, NJ are now being evacuated due to the heavy smoke.

[bankwalker]

I can't figure out why they would do it.

Maybe to keep emergency services fully occupied while the real one is teed up? Hope not. Say a prayer.

[HairOfTheDog]

It actually does look like it is burning out. Lucky. It looked like it had enough fuel around to go a long time if it wanted to.

[tubebender]

It looks like there may be rupture under water pipe feeding the small fire off shore It appears there is still a active pipe feeding the on shore blaze.