Category Archives: Benicia Fire Department

Benicia Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, Benicia Fire Department, City of Benicia, Valero Benicia Refinery

Benicia Fire Chief interview – On the ISO and Valero’s transition

[BenIndy Editor: The following is excerpted from part 1 of a Stephen Golub interview of Benicia Fire Chief Josh Chadwick as it appeared in the Benicia Herald today, April 26. The whole interview is interesting , but especially so at the end when addressing Benicia’s Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) and the idling and transition of Benicia Valero Refinery.]

Stephen Golub interview with Chief Chadwick: the ISO & Valero as it transitions to a tank farm

The stacks at Benicia’s Valero refinery .

By Stephen Golub, The Benicia Herald, April  26, 2026

GOLUB: You played a large part in crafting Benicia’s Industrial Safety Ordinance, which was adopted by the City Council last year. When you first started as a firefighter, did you have any expectations that you could end up doing anything like that?

CHADWICK: Firefighters are trained in hazardous materials response. We are also training in air monitoring, which is the realm of confined space rescue. But being asked to develop an Industrial Safety Ordinance is not the norm. I have good working relationships with many other fire chiefs, and none of them deal with this issue

GOLUB: Particularly given that the ISO’s implementation has been affected by Valero’s decision to idle the refinery, do you have any thoughts on how that implementation is going? Any thoughts on its implementation or challenges going forward?

CHADWICK: Overall, the implementation is going well. I understand there may be some in the community who would like to see more visible progress, but significant work has been happening behind the scenes. This is a new program for Benicia, so there is naturally a ramp-up period.

We also didn’t truly get started until after the ordinance development process was complete. It was approved by the council in April 2025, but it didn’t take effect for another 120 days, and finalizing the associated fees extended into December. So, in many ways, we’re still in the early stages of implementation.

The idling of the refinery has had more of an indirect impact. Historically, the periods of highest risk for incidents and flaring are during shutdowns und startups, so it was expected that taking the refinery offline would in involve some increased activity. And more broadly, it’s important to recognize that no level of regulation can completely eliminate the risk associated with large industrial operations.

GOLUB: In what ways might Valero’s idling the refinery make the BFD’s work easier? In what ways might it make the work tougher? How might the answers change if Gov. Newsom’s plan for the refinery to transition to becoming an oil storage terminal (“tank farm”) for fuel produced elsewhere goes through? Is it yet clear what will become of Valero’s on-site firefighting personnel and equipment once the facility transitions from a refinery to an oil terminal?

CHADWICK: There are a few different pieces to that.

From a firefighter’s perspective, if refining operations are idled, that generally reduces some of the more complex and high-risk processes we plan for. In general, there is a reduction in pressure and temperature. So, in that sense, it could simplify parts of the risk profile.

That said, it doesn’t eliminate the hazard. Whether it’s a refinery or a fuel terminal, you’re still dealing with large volumes of combustible and flammable liquids. A transition to a tank farm shifts the risk rather than removes it. More focus is on storage, transfer operations, and transportation components. Those come with their own set of challenges and fire protection considerations.

In terms of whether that makes the iob easier or tougher, it’s probably more accurate to say it makes it different. We would need to evaluate the specific operations and adjust our planning, training, and response accordingly.

As for on-site firefighting personnel and equipment, that’s not entirely clear yet. From our standpoint, maintaining a strong on-site fire protection capability is critical given the scale of the hazards, and that’s something we’ve been actively engaged in discussions about.

BenIndy Editor – See also the Benicia Bridge article by Laura López González, “Valero cut its Benicia fire crew, hopes for outside aid in case of tank fire.“

Benicia Fire Department, City of Benicia, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero's Community Advisory Panel (CAP)

Valero laid off its Benicia firefighter crew, hopes for outside aid in case of tank fire

Final Community Advisory Panel meeting: Who will respond if there is trouble?

The stacks at Benicia’s Valero refinery have gone cold but layoffs during company’s transition away from refining have also cost the plant its dedicated fire brigade.

The Benicia Bridge, by Laura López González, April  17, 2026

Valero laid off its refinery firefighters in Benicia. Now, company executives have said they hope to rely on the Benicia Fire Department, contractors, and neighboring refineries to provide the manpower needed to tackle a future fire.

Valero completed its latest round of layoffs this week, leaving about 70 employees, General Manager Lauren Bird said Tuesday at the refinery’s final community advisory panel meeting. About 20 employees will be left alongside contractors as the plant continues to import, store and distribute gas and diesel in the near future. The company will no longer import jet fuel through Benicia, citing easier routes to support airports, Valero Section Business Law Chief David Giles said at the meeting. Valero will use a fraction of its tanks for storage.

Among the layoffs were Valero’s own firefighters, leaving serious questions … [Continued on The Benicia Bridge…]

Reposted with permission, The Benicia Bridge
Excellent reporting from Benicia’s newest award-winning journalism duo, Monica Vaughan and Laura López González. – Roger Straw
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Benicia Fire Department, City of Benicia, Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, Refinery fire, Valero Benicia Refinery

Valero structure on fire – shelter in place if you smell smoke!

Citizen alerts circulated on BeniciaResist around 9:15 AM. Solano Alert went out at 9:34 AM.

Photo by Larnie Fox around 9:39 AM
Latest update from Solano Fire Department on its Facebook page at 10:10 AM:
Benicia Fire Department, Valero Benicia Refinery

Valero Benicia Refinery closes investigation of ‘Hydrogen Sulfide Saturday’ – but Benicians are still waiting for answers

[Note from BenIndy: Valero’s 30-day report on the February 24 hydrocarbon spill, which was categorized as a “Level-3” incident due to the potential threat to human health, raised yet more concerns about the refinery’s promptness and openness in notifying the City and its residents of hazardous events. If liquid hydrocarbon was detected on Tank 1738’s roof at 4:13am, why was the City not informed “immediately,” as required by its 2019 Cooperation Agreement with Valero? What does “immediately” even mean, in this context? Questions about Valero’s emergency management and dedication to safeguarding the community, particularly when considering the health risks posed by hydrogen sulfide exposure, certainly linger. Additionally, Valero’s tweaking of the spill’s reported volume – which could be 83 or 35 gallons, depending – spotlights why enhanced regulatory oversight and wide-spanning improvements to notification requirements should be an urgent priority of the refinery, its regulators, and of course the City of Benicia. Once again, we urge readers to check out BISHO.org to learn more about the City’s push for an Industrial Safety Ordinance from the perspective of its supporters.]

Valero Benicia Refinery releases cause of Feb. 24 incident, closes investigation

Valero’s Benicia Refinery. | Pat Toth-Smith.

Vallejo Times-Herald, by Lynzie Lowe, March 24, 2024

The Valero Benicia Refinery released its required 30-day report on Monday to provide additional details about the Feb. 24 releasing of a foul odor into the city of Benicia, and announced that the investigation has been officially closed.

The incident began on Friday, Feb. 23 when a gas turbine in the Benicia Refinery Fluid Catalytic Cracker Unit tripped, causing an emergency shutdown procedures and rerouting to “slop system” tanks to take place. During this process, Tank 1738 was turned off at approximately 4:13 a.m. Feb. 24 after it was discovered that there was some liquid hydrocarbon on the roof of that tank.

By 5:30 a.m. the next morning, the report noted that the Benicia Refinery Fence-line monitors detected Hydrogen Sulfide above background levels Southwest of the Refinery that was accompanied by the signature odor of H2S, which accounted for the rotten egg smell that was present throughout the city of Benicia at that time.

“Refinery Operations began investigating the source of the odor and identified hydrocarbon on the roof of Tank 1738 at approximately 4:13 a.m. (Feb. 24) as the source,” read the report. “… Cleanup efforts began at approximately 1 p.m. and refinery personnel continued to clean material off of the tank roof until the majority of the material had been removed and there was insufficient daylight to continue. At the time the work stopped, odors were no longer being detected beyond the refinery fence-line. Operations resumed the next morning to continue spot cleaning the residue on the tank roof and cleanup was completed on Monday, Feb. 26.”

Refinery officials said their initial report estimated that there was approximately 83 gallons of refined hydrocarbon material.

“However, based on visual accounts from the personnel overseeing the cleanup of the material, it was noted that the material on the roof was a very light sheen and the roof of the tank was still visible through the sheen, indicating it was a very thin layer of liquid hydrocarbon,” read the report. “Based on the information on the sheen thickness and the area of the roof that had material, the estimate was revised to be approximately 35 gallons of hydrocarbon material. The bulk of the material removed from the roof was rainwater.”

According to the report, an investigation team – composed of managers, engineers and hourly operators from the facility – was formed two days after the incident occurred to determine the root cause and recommend corrective actions for the Feb. 24 event.

“Data was gathered from multiple sources, including equipment monitoring trends and accounts from personnel involved in the incident,” read the report.

According to the report, the investigation identified that the floating roof on Tank 1738 had slightly tilted, and was most likely caused by vapors entering the tank.

“The investigation team looked at the various sources of slop material that were routed to the tank during the event to identify potential sources of lighter hydrocarbon materials to the tank,” read the report. “From those potential source streams, there was insufficient data for the team to identify which stream was the conclusive source of the vapors.”

The investigation team did, however, determined that the volume of material on the roof was likely not significant enough to cause offsite impacts, and therefore a vapor release from the tank was suspected to have occurred.

“The investigation team also considered the possibility of other sources as the cause of the odor, but evidence from refinery fixed H2S monitors and the wind direction during the event provided evidence that the tank was the source of the odor,” read the report.

Because the investigative team believed that light hydrocarbon materials vaporized in Tank 1738 causing the roof tilt and atmospheric substances to be released, the Refinery will schedule a meeting on or before Sept. 30 with the City of Benicia and Solano County Certified Unified Program Agency to develop engineering solution for the potential slop sources and options for monitoring and alarms, procedural options, or other means to reducing potential for vapor carry under to tankage and to implement engineering solutions.

Further actions on how to proceed with corrective action will be discussed and acted on at that time but the investigation into the incident has now been closed, according to Refinery officials.

Other reporting on this recent refinery incident: