Phillips 66 employees provide life-saving response

Phillips 66 employees were called into action on Monday, Sept. 16, to assist with rescuing a driver from an overturned 18-wheeler following a major vehicular accident a few miles from the Phillips 66 Sweeny Refinery in Southeast Texas.

Sweeny Refinery Emergency Response Security Team Lead Ronnie Thompson, Sweeny Refinery Heavy Equipment operators, and Midstream Field Technician James Christianprovided response assistance to the accident at State Highway 35 and FM 1459 in Brazoria County. Christian was on the scene as a member of the Sweeny Fire & Rescue volunteer department.

The 18-wheeler was overturned in a steep ditch with the driver pinned inside. Emergency responders used a heavy-duty wrecker for more than an hour to try to extract the driver, but they were unsuccessful. Emergency responders reached out to Thompson to request assistance of a crane to get the vehicle upright. Sweeny Refinery crane operators were on the scene within 10 minutes of approval. With the help of the crane, the driver was rescued and responsive. He was life-flighted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston and is expected to recover.

Through the swift intervention of a trained network of local emergency responders, our Sweeny Complex Emergency Response Team and Sweeny Refinery Heavy Equipment operators, a man will return home.

"We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to our employees and the local responders for the critical role they played in this response and saving a life," said Todd Denton, Phillips 66 Senior Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment and Field Operations Support. "This is a great example of how our ongoing training and collaboration with local response teams keeps our community safer."