Firefighters Practice For Shell Oil Refinery Incident In Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — In the month of September, the Woodbridge Fire Department held a safety drill meant to practice how they would respond if there was an industrial accident at the Shell oil refinery on State Street.

Such drills are very important, said firefighter/fire inspector Christopher Jago, as many parts of Woodbridge Township are heavily industrial.

Longtime Woodbridge residents will remember that in 1996, that Shell oil plant was struck by lightning, sparking an explosion and setting three million gallons of gasoline on fire. Nobody was injured in the blaze.

The drill was held Sept. 12 and started with a 911 call stating that a butane release occurred at the plant. Shell oil and Motiva, an oil industry company based at the plant, worked with firefighters on the drill.

Then during the weeks of September 19 and 26, Woodbridge firefighters traveled to the Middlesex County Fire Academy in Sayreville to perform motor vehicle extrication drills.

"These trainings are crucial as they afford firefighters the opportunity to get hands-on experience using extrication tools and provide scenarios with crash-test dummy victims needing to be extricated," said Jago. "The types of vehicles donated to the Middlesex County Fire Academy vary, and allow firefighters to see first-hand how different vehicles will pose unique problems when involved in a situation requiring extrication, especially when time is of the essence."