Carson Refinery Fire Causes Sulfur Dioxide Leak (AP) -- A small fire at an oil refinery in this Los Angeles suburb sent a cloud of potentially deadly sulfur dioxide wafting over the community on Friday, prompting firefighters to advise thousands of people to stay inside until it dissipated.

No one was hurt by the blaze, which began in mid-afternoon in a processing unit tower at the British Petroleum refinery. The fire's cause was under investigation, said Inspector Ray Rodriguez of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

In all, about 50,000 people were ordered to stay inside until about 5 p.m., when the advisory was lifted.

The sulfur dioxide release was caused when the process unit was shut down quickly after the fire, said Walter Neil, the refinery's external affairs manager.

"It was not a major fire, just a minor fire that caused us to shut down the processing unit in order to keep it safe for employees," Neil said. He added that refinery employees remained at work.

"Everything is under control now and we are in the process of cleaning it up,"

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