For commuters on U.S. Highway 36 and Interstates 25 and 270 Monday night, it was hard to miss the bright orange flare spewing from the Suncor Oil Refinery in Commerce City.
Some concerned motorists even called local fire departments to report a fire, but the bright orange burst was actually part of a safety mechanism at the refinery, said Lisha Burnett, spokeswoman for Suncor Energy.
On Sunday, crews noticed an operational issue with one of the units that processes the gasoline, Burnett said. In order to safely take the unit off-line, multiple steps had to be followed, one of which emitted a gray cloud.
The unit was off-line for a short period of time before crews started to safely turn the unit back on.
During the start up process, a larger than normal flare occurred. The flare — a safety mechanism in the unit’s start-up procedure — lasted through yesterday’s rush hour commute.
Both the gray emissions from Sunday and Monday’s flare were safe, and nothing dangerous was emitted from the refinery, Burnett said.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
