Company Says No Damage From Flames Visible From Michigan At Sarnia Refinery

PORT HURON (WWJ) - What looked like a massive fire across the St. Clair River from Michigan Thursday evening was basically no big deal.

That's the message from Imperial, the company that operates the Sarnia, Ontario, refinery after images of the blaze taken from Port Huron began making the rounds on social media, causing some alarm.

In a statement, Imperial said it responded to "an operating issue" at the Sarnia site after "visible flaring" (their term for the shooting flames) caused by a release of gas and pressure was reported at 6:20 p.m.  A short time later, the company said, Imperial fire response personnel extinguished a grass fire on public property to the south of the site.

While it appeared that the entire complex was ablaze, Imperial said there was no damage and no injuries. The all clear was given for the operational issue and the grass fire by around 8:30 p.m.

An investigation into what cause the flare-up is ongoing.