Refinery's Scheduled Flare Sends Up Billowing Smoke

Black smoke billowing from the ConocoPhillips refinery in Wilmington on Saturday came from a "scheduled flare"—a planned burn-off of gases—at the plant and was not an emergency, according to a spokesman with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Those attending the Rolling Hills Estates Annual City Celebration watched as the smoke billowed on the horizon at about 2 p.m.

The scene near the plant was intriguing enough for many motorists who stopped to take photos of the flare up along West Anaheim Street, which borders the refinery. Others snapped photos from a higher vantage point near the Rolling Hills Preparatory School.

One motorist, who told Patch he has lived in the Wilmington area for his whole life, said he had not seen a flare at the refinery for at least 10 years.

The plant is part of the ConocoPhillips' Los Angeles Refinery system, that links facilities in Carson and Wilmington. Carson processes crude oil and Wilmington "upgrades the intermediate products to finished products," according to the company website.

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—City News Service contributed to this report.