A new county review says firefighters trying to contain the massive February blaze at the Martinez Refining Company were flying half blind, hobbled by radios that could not talk to each other and a command structure that took nearly two hours to fully kick in.
Investigators with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District found that on-site refinery crews were carrying radios that could not directly connect with local public-safety channels, which meant responders were juggling multiple devices and relying on workarounds during the critical first phase of the emergency. The report also notes that the unified command center, the hub that is supposed to coordinate a big incident like this, was not fully established for almost two hours. Inside the facility, the refinery’s own fire brigade had only limited access to the regional EBRICS radio system.
Residents and county supervisors told the Board of Supervisors that the findings help explain why the fire burned for days and why key processing units stayed offline for months afterward…