An ethanol fuel facility in Cornelius was ablaze Tuesday afternoon, prompting evacuations within a quarter-mile radius.
Cornelius Fire Department via Twitter
Forest Grove Fire and Rescue said investigators suspect static electricity likely ignited a massive fuel fire Tuesday that led to nearby neighborhoods evacuating.
The fire erupted around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at an industrial complex along North Fourth Avenue in Cornelius.
According to fire investigators, employees at Thunderbolt Racing Fuel were transferring super unleaded gasoline from one metal drum to another for mixing and final sale.
“The process they used to transfer the gasoline was hooking an air compressor to the first drum and using air pressure to feed the gasoline through a hose to the second drum,” the fire department wrote in a statement.
First video from inside the N 4th Ave incident. Purple material on the ground is the extinguishing agent used to put out the fire by PDX Airport Fire Crews. pic.twitter.com/5bioa3whYP
— Cornelius FD(Oregon) (@CorneliusFire) March 17, 2021
An employee carrying out that task Tuesday reported feeling intense heat and saw the first barrel had burst into flames. Despite efforts to put out the fire initially, the blaze quickly spread.
Firefighters reported explosions and erratic fire behavior, as dark smoke and fumes filled the air. As a safety precaution, the Cornelius Fire Department had ordered dozens of homes in the area evacuate.
Crews continued to fight the fire until it was deemed under control a little after 7 p.m.
In total, three buildings at the industrial complex were destroyed. Several vehicles also burned in the fire.
“A positive note to the incident is that no employees, civilians or emergency responders were injured during the incident,” Forest Grove fire officials noted in a statement.