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Message
Baton Rouge people - how cold was it when Exxon exploded in 1989?
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:00 am
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:00 am
I doubt it was this cold. It's barely above 0 at my place.
Extreme temperatures back then contributed to broken equipment, which lead to a vapor/gas leak that settled in the tunnel area. A worker in a pickup truck drove through the area and the sparks from the vehicle's engine ignited the vapor and caused a massive explosion and fireball. That explosion caused several subsequent explosions across the Exxon facility - including some storage tanks.
WAFB
[/url]
Extreme temperatures back then contributed to broken equipment, which lead to a vapor/gas leak that settled in the tunnel area. A worker in a pickup truck drove through the area and the sparks from the vehicle's engine ignited the vapor and caused a massive explosion and fireball. That explosion caused several subsequent explosions across the Exxon facility - including some storage tanks.
quote:
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Christmas Eve 1989 is a night many in Baton Rouge will never forget. It was the night a deadly explosion rocked the Exxon refinery, the nation’s second largest petrochemical refinery at the time.
“Suddenly, something shakes the house like nothing I’d ever felt. I thought it was an accident on Interstate 10,” said former WAFB anchor, George Sells.
“I’ve never been in an earthquake, but if I were to think of what a tremor was, what it would be like, that’s how I would describe it,” recalled former WAFB weekend anchor, Phil Rainier.
Gas released from storage tanks ignited and exploded around 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 24, 1989. The blast blew out windows at the state capitol and throughout downtown. It could be felt some 40 miles away and seen from even further.
WAFB
[/url] This post was edited on 1/22/25 at 9:40 am
24
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:04 am to member12
If I remember correctly, it was around 14 that morning.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:05 am to bonescanner
I thought it was the morning BR reached 9° which is close to what it is now.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:07 am to member12
It’s not the freeze it’s the thaw. Those of us out here are working and praying not to let it happen again.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:09 am to TDsngumbo
I don't recall exactly how cold it was but other than that, I remember the day pretty clearly. I had just finished Army Basic Training and was home for Christmas.
I heard the explosion and the house shook for about 10-15 seconds. I walked out of the front door of the house and looked in the direction of Exxon. My Dad called out from the house and said "what do you see". I could see what looked like a mushroom cloud forming. I told my father "I think we just got nuked".
That explosion was massive.
I heard the explosion and the house shook for about 10-15 seconds. I walked out of the front door of the house and looked in the direction of Exxon. My Dad called out from the house and said "what do you see". I could see what looked like a mushroom cloud forming. I told my father "I think we just got nuked".
That explosion was massive.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:14 am to member12
It was 8 degrees day before and 9 the day of.
It was 7 this morning. Good luck
It was 7 this morning. Good luck
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:19 am to member12
Single digits or maybe teens. I was in NO at a Saints game and heard about it on the radio. I came home expecting to see all my windows blown out and my apartment being looted. But I lived on the other side of BR from Exxon and got no damage.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:20 am to member12
I was snapping a photo of my mother and father (an Exxon retiree) in front of the Christmas tree the instant the explosion occurred. The first words from my Dad's mouth were "That was Exxon." 
This is an interesting website for weather information:
LINK
The low temperature on 12/24/1989 was 10 degrees; the low 12/23/1989 was 8 degrees. I think those beat the records of 1983 when the newly-dredged lakes froze killing a bunch of bass fingerlings recently stocked by the LDWF.
This is an interesting website for weather information:
LINK
The low temperature on 12/24/1989 was 10 degrees; the low 12/23/1989 was 8 degrees. I think those beat the records of 1983 when the newly-dredged lakes froze killing a bunch of bass fingerlings recently stocked by the LDWF.
This post was edited on 1/22/25 at 9:09 am
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:23 am to member12
The explosion was so powerful, the attic pull down stairs opened about a foot then the springs slammed them back closed. Some pictures fell off the wall as well.
Scared the bejesus out of me.
Scared the bejesus out of me.
This post was edited on 1/22/25 at 7:24 am
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:24 am to Earthmover
I was in Port Allen at the time. The grown ups all knew it was Exxon - then we went outside and saw the huge plume of smoke.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:25 am to member12
It was in the low teens. Cold AF. I’ll never forget that morning
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:30 am to 225Tyga
I was at my Dad’s house in South Baton Rouge. His house is up on piers, it rocked us pretty good. He instantly said “Exxon”. I’m pretty sure one of his former grad students was plant manager of the Chem Plant at that time (explosion was in the refinery). When I worked there years later, there were still a few folks that were there at the time, few wanted to talk about it.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:53 am to member12
quote:
It's barely above 0 at my place
Are you in Tennessee?
Posted on 1/22/25 at 7:55 am to Icansee4miles
My Dad worked in the refinery at the time. We were outside getting ready to fry fish and he looked up and said, "Exxon....go take the phone off the hook till im done cooking."
Posted on 1/22/25 at 8:12 am to member12
We were at the A&P Superstore way out in Sherwood, basket full, first time hosting Christmas for the family at our house. Had just a couple of items left to pickup when the power blinked, then went out, followed about 10 seconds later by a rumbling that shook the cans on the shelves.
Husband said "That was Exxon". Sure enough out in the parking lot you could see a huge plume of smoke over in N. Baton Rouge.
It was super eerie, a very clear sky except for the pillar of smoke.
FWIW It was my first experience with stores not being able to check you out when the power was gone. Shopping for 45 minutes for the damn Holiday dinner all for nought. Have tended toward being a luddite ever since.
Husband said "That was Exxon". Sure enough out in the parking lot you could see a huge plume of smoke over in N. Baton Rouge.
It was super eerie, a very clear sky except for the pillar of smoke.
FWIW It was my first experience with stores not being able to check you out when the power was gone. Shopping for 45 minutes for the damn Holiday dinner all for nought. Have tended toward being a luddite ever since.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 8:44 am to Icansee4miles
quote:
When I worked there years later, there were still a few folks that were there at the time, few wanted to talk about it.
I talked to an old man that worked there at the time. He told me it happened because of a gas leak. There was a truck in the area of the leak that two workers got in and when they cranked it up, the spark from the ignition caused the explosion.
I was 6 at the time and remember this well. We stayed off Winbourne by Winbourne elementary which is a couple miles from the plant. It shook the hell out of the house. I have relatives that stayed on Cable street off Scenic at the time in a house that you can walk out the front door and look to the left and see a tanker. The explosion blew the windows out of every home over there. After that incident, ExxonMobil bought out about 95% of the homes over there and tore them all down.
This post was edited on 1/22/25 at 8:52 am
Posted on 1/22/25 at 8:47 am to member12
Single digits. The house shook and I ran outside because my first thought was the roof had blown off.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 9:01 am to The Boat
quote:
It was 8 degrees day before and 9 the day of.
It was 7 this morning. Good luck
This.
I was a kid watching the Saints game and procrastinating to avoid getting ready for Christmas Eve mass at the Cathedral in downtown BR. Then a "bomb" went off. I'll never forget driving over the bridge from WBR to BR on the way to church and seeing the massive plume of black smoke billowing out of the Exxon plant.
In the days prior to the internet, mass cell phones, social media, etc., no one was quite sure what was going on. We were getting our info from a family member who was a called out to work at the plant that night.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 9:13 am to DBeaux225
quote:
old man that worked there at the time. He told me it happened because of a gas leak. There was a truck in the area of the leak that two workers got in and when they cranked it up, the spark from the ignition caused the explosion.
This is what happened per the OSHA report. I read it after it came out. If you are ever in a situation like that , run until you are out of it . And stop anyone from starting anything.
I worked at a small plant that was on the Exxon south border. Address was Lupine.
The window behind my desk looked out on tanks.
The windows were blown into the cork board in front of my desk and the back of my chair. Glad to be at home for Christmas.
Posted on 1/22/25 at 9:32 am to eitek1
I was driving on I-110 when it happened. I had passed Exxon a couple minutes before it happened. Everything shook and could feel the air compression wave pass. Scary moment for sure.
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