European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 07, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes thursday september 7.1989 plumes of fire and smoke shoot into the sky Over Martinez Calif., after a series of blasts at an Oil refiner at least 2 Hurt in Blaze set off by Shell Oil refinery explosion Martinez Calif. A an explosion at a Shell Oil refiners touched off a huge fire tuesday night that injured at least two people and sent a plume of smoke thousands of feet into the air authorities said. It rattled All the windows in my Home said Rob Ert Langston a Benicia resident who lives seven Miles from the Plant. Jane Tocher an engineering assistant at Shell said the Plant was shut Down following the explosion about 6 35 . But the fire continued to Burn out of control two hours later. Ambulances were standing by at the refinery s main Gale. Two contract employees for Shell were injured an taken to Brookside Hospital in san Pablo. One Man had second degree Burns on 25 percent of his body mainly on his Back and arms said Hospital spokeswoman Cynthia Crawford. He was reported in Good condition in the Hospital s Burn unit. The other worker also was in Good condition with second degree Burns. The flames in the Light Oil processing unit came from bleed off valves in pipes designed to Burn off excess fuel during an Accident said Shell spokesman Bill Sharkey. The unit which occupies about 15 acres of the 800-acre facility is constructed entirely of Metal. The cause of the explosion and fire was unknown. Sharkey said. Neighbourhoods were not being evacuated but the sky Over Martinez was thick with Black smoke that billowed several thousand feet Over the Plant. The smoke gradually was being blown Northeast Ward toward the Sacramento san Joaquin Delta which is sparsely populated. It stretched for More than 15 Miles by Early evening. Residents throughout the Region said they heard a big blast followed by a loud Rushing sound which one san Francisco radio caller described As like three Jet engines starting  Langston said the roaring sound lasted five minutes. The big explosion was followed by More than a dozen smaller 9ncs, some of which could be Felt As far away As the original blast. Several released Large balls of fire Over the processing unit. Shell firefighters were handling the Blaze. Martinez City firefighters were at the Plant s Gate but had not been asked to help. A county fire truck was made available to Shell. The refinery is 40 Miles Northeast of san Francisco on the car Quincy Strait a 10-mile stretch of water that runs from the san Francisco Bay to the Delta. Stateside 5 rare crocodiles emerge from shells at Texas zoo Brownsville. Texas a five endangered philippine crocodiles that hatched tuesday at the Gladys Porter zoo Are believed to be the first to Hatch outside the Philippines a scientist said. Two More were trying to break out of their shells tuesday afternoon said Pat Burchfield a  and Deputy director of the zoo. There Are Only 400 to 500 philippine Croc Odiles in the wild. The species known scientifically As Croc Dylus min Dorcsis has declined because of human encroachment on their Habi Tat Burchfield said. The Olive Green 8v Inch Long babies hatched from 13 eggs Laid at the zoo 73 Days before he said. Pursuer sees 3 killed As car slams into train Lake Odessa Mich. A a Man who was awakened by automobile lights and thought his Home was being vandalized chased a car and watched in horror As it slammed into a train killing All three people in the car police said. Killed in the crash Early monday were two 18 year Olds and a 34-year-old Man. The unidentified Homeowner told police his House had been vandalized previously and he was afraid it was happening again so he jumped in his car and gave Chase police said. He chased the other car half a mile before it hit a train at a crossing marked with signs but no lights said a state trooper Robert Beaver. Police said that the Motorist who drove up to the Homeowner s House had been chasing the Homeowner s teen age son who had been caught with two other teen agers shining a flashlight into a Field looking for Deer. No charges were filed. Sara Lee will change ads for Light desserts new York not Sara Lee corp. Agreed tuesday to change the advertising for its Light desserts to reflect the fact that their caloric con tent is not substantially lower than that of Saralee s regular desserts the new York state attorney general s office said. Attorney general Robert Abrams said the company which is based in Chicago had agreed to drop the use of the phrase Light classics in the ads for the desserts and would not use the word Light to describe a product unless it had two thirds fewer calories than the regular product with which it is being compared. Sara Lee also agreed to reimburse eight of the nine states that filed the complaint $80,000 to cover the costs of their investigation. The complaint was tiled by the attorneys Gen eral of California. Illinois Iowa Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri Texas Wisconsin and new York. In settling the complaint the company did not admit wrongdoing. Woman asks damages for false aids diagnosis Indianapolis a a woman who planned her funeral was evicted from her trailer and lost her Boyfriend after two tests mistakenly showed she had the aids virus has filed a complaint against the Hospital and doctors involved. It should never have happened and i Don t think it Ever ought to happen  Gayla Gray said in an interview with the Indianapolis news. I would t wish this on someone 1  Gray 33, of i Noblesville was hospitalized for peritonitis in 1987 and was tested for acquired immune deficiency syndrome antibodies when she failed to respond to Antibiotic treatment. The first test was positive As was a second More sophisticated test on the same blood Sample. Thirteen months later doctors discovered those tests were wrong when a Rou Tine test on Gray s blood came up negative for the his antibody. They re tested the original blood Sample that had been stored at Indiana University Hospi Tal and it tested negative. In the meantime. Gray s Boyfriend broke up with her friends and neighbors shunned her and her teen age daughter was taunted by schoolmates. Gray a nurse had not been working during the period because of other health problems. Her complaint which seeks an unspecified amount of damages was Pend ing before the medical malpractice Divi Sion of the Indiana slate insurance commission. If the Case is not settled by the panel it will proceed to court. Neither party has yet requested a med ical review panel be appointed to Hearthe Case Marsha Harrison chief counsel for the medical malpractice division said tuesday. Or. Robert Goulet and another physician named in Gray s complaint or. Richard Kohler said an attorney had told them not to discuss the Case. A third physician named in the complaint. Or. Lawrence wheat did not return Tele phone Calls placed to his office tuesday. Gray s lawyer Michael w. Van try use believes the mistake could have occurred in one of two ways. The tests for the aids virus could have registered false positives. In that Case try use said doctors should have  Gray s blood earlier than they did since the number of to cells present was much higher than usual for his positive tests. A second possibility is that Gray s blood Sample could have been confused with another patient s. This other per son could have been told they do not have the virus and they have now spread that further in the Community he said. Before Gray even left the Hospital after recovering from peritonitis she Learned she had been evicted from her trailer. Her landlord said it was because the grass had t been cared for. Later several people told her the land lord had burned the trailer because no one wanted to live where an aids patient had lived. Gray said her father her two Sisters and other family members rallied around her but her Boyfriend could t accept her having the aids virus. I had told him that if he decided to break up i certainly would understand Gray said. Her 16-year-old daughter Becky also pulled away and friends shunned  family began receiving prank phone Calls. Someone scrawled aids in the Snow on Gray s car. Living in a Small town you know you Tell one person and the whole world knows Gray said. She lived in tear from Day to Day expecting every minor ailment to develop into aids she said. I was so sure 1 was going to die that 1 already had picked out the thing i was going to Wear to my Fune ral Gray said she Felt euphoric in october 1988 when she heard she was All right. But then she grew angry. I still Don t understand How some thing like that could have happened she said