Accident: Silver Eagle Refinery Flash Fire and Explosion and Catastrophic Pipe Explosion
Location: Location: Woods Cross, UT
Accident Occurred On: 01/12/2009 | Final Report Released On: 04/14/2014
Accident Type: Oil and Refining - Fire and Explosion
Investigation Status: The CSB issued a technical report on April 14, 2014, and formally closed the investigation at a public meeting on January 28, 2015.
On the evening of January 12, 2009, 2 refinery operators and 2 contractors suffered serious burns resulting from a flash fire at the Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah. The accident occurred when a large flammable vapor cloud was released from an atmospheric storage tank, known as tank 105, which contained an estimated 440,000 gallons of light naphtha. The vapor cloud found an ignition source and the ensuing flash fire spread up to 230 feet west of the tank farm. On November 4, 2009, a second accident occurred at the Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah, when a powerful blast wave - - caused by the failure of a 10 inch pipe - damaged nearby homes.