Marathon Refinery Fire In Detroit Extinguished With No Injuries, Town Partially Evacuated

Refinery Fire Extinguished
UNITED STATES - AUGUST 30: Marathon Petroleum Company's refinery complex in Detroit, Michigan is pictured on Wednesday, August 30, 2006. Crude oil rose amid concern that Iran, the fourth-biggest producer, will ignore a United Nations deadline to halt uranium enrichment tomorrow. Oil fell to a two-month low of $68.65 a barrel earlier in the day after a government report showed that U.S. supplies jumped last week. (Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
UNITED STATES - AUGUST 30: Marathon Petroleum Company's refinery complex in Detroit, Michigan is pictured on Wednesday, August 30, 2006. Crude oil rose amid concern that Iran, the fourth-biggest producer, will ignore a United Nations deadline to halt uranium enrichment tomorrow. Oil fell to a two-month low of $68.65 a barrel earlier in the day after a government report showed that U.S. supplies jumped last week. (Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

HOUSTON, April 27 (Reuters) - A fire on Saturday night at a Detroit crude oil refinery that forced the partial evacuation of the town of Melvindale, Michigan, has been extinguished, said a spokesman for the plant's owner, Marathon Petroleum Corp .

No injuries were reported at the refinery from the blaze in a tank that stored petrochemical feedstock for production units, said Marathon spokesman Shane Pochard.

"We're working with Melvindale police to return residents to their homes," Pochard said. "That has not yet been completed."

The blaze broke out about 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) and was extinguished at about 8 p.m.

Marathon's Detroit refinery is the only one in the state and can refine up to 106,000 barrels of crude oil a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Pochard said he did not know if the refinery shut down production because of the fire. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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