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Irving Oil investigating ‘major incident’ at Saint John oil refinery, reports of explosion

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Witnesses say there was an explosion at an oil refinery in Saint John, N.B., this morning.
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SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Witnesses say there was an explosion at an oil refinery in Saint John, N.B., this morning.

Irving Oil says it is investigating a “major incident” at the refinery, but did not provide details.

Litsa Daeres, who lives nearby, says she heard a “loud bang” and felt her whole house shake shortly after 10 a.m.

Saint John resident Michael Steeves says he was driving about a kilometre away when he noticed the fire and thick, black smoke.

He says he saw hundreds of residents watching the situation unfold from a distance.

Saint John Police tweeted that they were responding to the incident, and asked people to stay away from the area. Several streets have been closed down.

“From where I was, you could see flames — I would expect they were about a hundred feet in the air — and you’ve got a huge plume of black smoke,” Steeves said about an hour and a half later.

Steeves said the incident reminded him of a similar event in the late 90s, when the same refinery suffered a similar explosion which left one person dead.

“Just seeing the clouds, and what they’ve got closed off, it just seems to be a pretty similar level of event,” he said.

Irving says on Twitter that the company is “actively assessing the situation” and will share more information when it becomes available.