Returning Superior residents grateful for quick response as refinery fire investigation continues

Federal investigators from several agencies — and officials with Husky Energy — are still trying to figure out what sparked an explosion and massive fire Thursday at the company's refinery in Superior, Wis. Residents of that city say they're grateful to first responders and community leaders for managing a situation that could have been much worse.

As life returned to normal Friday in Superior, schoolchildren and their teachers still had the day off. Kristin Trianoski, who teaches fifth grade at Great Lakes Elementary, met two of her colleagues for lunch at Tavern 105. Their school is about a mile north as the crow flies from Husky Energy's refinery, and Trianoski said they did their best to keep students at ease until the evacuation order came.

"The older kids knew what was happening, and they were scared. A lot of their parents work over there, and work at Enbridge which is close, so they were very concerned," she said. "But we let them contact their parents to calm them down and most of the kids were trying to calm each other."

Trianoski said her husband used to work at the refinery. He assured her that staff there are trained to handle major emergencies. She had nothing but praise for the first responders.

"When we were all running away, they were running towards. So that's pretty amazing for us," she said.

At least 20 people were hurt in the explosion. Essentia Health — which treated most of the injured — said a man who suffered a blast injury was listed in good condition Friday.

Corbett Bainter and his girlfriend spent Thursday night with friends after officials urged many Superior residents to evacuate.

"They had safety in mind for everybody," he said. "I don't have any kids to worry about, but there are schools all around and I think they handled it pretty well, getting the kids into a nice, safe place for everybody to pick them up."

Linda Hale was grateful there were no fatalities. She and her husband live near the refinery, and could see the enormous plume of heavy black smoke that smelled like burning rubber. The couple heeded evacuation orders and went to the Black Bear Casino near Carlton, Minn., expecting to stay overnight.

"It was just a place to relax. And besides, we won some money," she said.

Like many here, Hale feared the fire might burn for days, and said she was surprised to learn around 7 p.m. Thursday that it was under control, so they went back home.

"I think it's awesome the way everybody came together and Mayor (Jim) Paine did a marvelous job and Duluth stepped in. We've got to be pretty proud of our little city of Superior," Hale said.

Hale closed her windows in case the wind shifted and blew smoke inside. But with Friday's rain, she said she's not concerned about the fire's pollution, monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency.

At a news conference Friday, the EPA's on-scene coordinator David Morrison said data collected Thursday night indicated no problems.

"We found consistent low trace levels, well below any health standards, virtually everywhere that we went for volatile chemicals, particulates and dust, the kinds of things that can adhere to smoke," he said.

Morrison said the agency is watching water quality, too. The refinery sits between a small creek and the Nemadji River. Crews put booms in the water to keep petroleum from getting into Hog Island Inlet on Lake Superior.

They're also trying to recover water used to douse the fire, along with potentially toxic firefighting foam.