“This is why we train” 

Phillips 66 first responders answer the call to help their community. 

• Phillips 66 ERT response: Nine members of the Phillips 66 Emergency Response Team (ERT) joined rescue workers to fight the California Palisades wildfires in January. 

• Community support and readiness: The company is committed to safety, preparedness and volunteerism, ensuring employees are ready to act in times of need. 

More than 15,000 first responders contributed to fighting the recent Los Angeles wildfires, some of the most destructive in California’s history. Among them were nine firefighters from the Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery. 

“We relied on our training,” said Robert Diaz, a member of the refinery’s Emergency Response Team and a Marine Corp veteran. “By investing in our people, we maintain our skills and step up when the community is in need.”   

As part of the company’s emergency response efforts, Phillips 66 volunteer firefighters are trained and equipped to work alongside volunteer fire departments, spending 16 hours each quarter on training. Their focus underscores the core values of the company, chief among them safety. 

Earlier this year, first responders from the company’s Rodeo Renewables facility joined regional emergency teams to contain a fire at PBF Energy’s Martinez Refining Company. And last year, emergency personnel from the company’s Borger Refinery helped fight the Panhandle fires in Texas, which burned over one million acres. 

Located in Carson and Wilmington, California, the Los Angeles Refinery, or LAR, has a dedicated field services and emergency response team. As is the case with response teams at other Phillips 66 facilities, the LAR ERT maintains detailed emergency plans and trains on both firefighting and incident command. 

That prepared them for the LA fires, which broke out on Jan. 7 with two major blazes, the Eaton and Palisades, scorching vast tracts of the city. The LAR first responders headed to the Palisades fire, where they joined an assembly of fire and rescue vehicles for an initial briefing.  

“It felt like we were driving into hell,” said Richard Lopez, a six-year member of the team. “The coastline was unrecognizable,” Lopez said, recalling the ash-covered landscape and flames glowing over the Palisade hilltops as the team first arrived at the scene.  

For several days, the team, including Joe Cucinotti, Francisco Lomeli, Jose Frausto, Lester Villanueva, Jared Beasley, Ruben Chaidez, and Eddy Oviedo, Robert Diaz and Richard Lopez, helped provide a steady supply of resources to the frontlines and monitored for flare-ups to prevent further wildfires.