LA PORTE, Texas — A massive pipeline fire in suburban Houston was shooting a giant plume of fire into the air for more than two hours on Monday as first-responders evacuated a surrounding neighborhood where some homes have caught fire.
The fire began at 9:55 a.m. with an explosion that rattled nearby homes in Deer Park and La Porte, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Houston, long the energy capital of the U.S.
“All of a sudden we hear this loud bang and then I see something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside,” said Geselle Melina Guerra, 25, a La Porte resident. She and her boyfriend live in a mobile home within the evacuation area. They were having breakfast when they heard the explosion close to 9:30 a.m. Guerra’s boyfriend, Jairo Sanchez, 26, woke up his brother and they ran to their car.
“I was just freaking out, pacing around the living room, not really knowing what to do or what was happening. I thought maybe it was an airplane that had crashed down by our house,” Guerra said.
La Porte city spokesperson Lee Woodward told KTRK-TV that they don’t yet know what flows through the pipeline or how it will be shut down. People in nearby schools were told to shelter in place as law enforcement blocked off a wide area.
It wasn’t immediately clear what companies operate the infrastructure involved. At least one gas transmission pipeline and one hazardous liquid pipeline run through the area on fire, according to U.S. Department of Transportation geographic data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Another gas transmission pipeline cuts diagonally through a nearby residential neighborhood along Spencer Highway, which runs through the suburbs of Deer Park and La Porte.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Houston is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries, plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight to residents in Texas’ largest city, including some that have been deadly. The blasts have raised recurring questions about the adequacy of the industry’s plans to protect the public and the impacts of environmental damage.
Video images from KTRK showed a park near the fire had been damaged and firefighters pouring water on adjacent homes. By noon, at least a couple of homes appeared to have caught fire, with smoke pouring from their roofs. There are also several businesses nearby, including a Walmart.
Sanchez said they’re used to evacuations because they live close to other plants near the highway. But in the 10 years Sanchez has lived there, he had not witnessed an explosion.
“We just drove as far as we could because we didn’t know what was happening,” Sanchez said from a parked car at a gas station near his college.
Officials have ordered residents in the Brookglen neighborhood area near the fire to evacuate, Woodward said in an email.
“Please avoid the area and follow law enforcement direction. Further details will be released as available,” Woodward said.
There are several high voltage power lines near the fire. The website PowerOutage.us said several thousand customers were without power in Harris County.
CenterPoint Energy said it is monitoring the fire, which is near Spencer Highway in LaPorte. The company said the fire “is unrelated to the company’s natural gas operations or equipment.”
“We are also cooperating with first responders. Putting safety first, the public should avoid this area until further notice from local emergency officials. When it is safe to do so, our electric crews will go into the area to assess the damage to our transmission and distribution power lines, poles and equipment and begin restoring service to impacted customers as safely and quickly as possible.”
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AP reporter Christopher L. Keller contributed to this report from Albuquerque, New Mexico
A pipeline explosion and fire in a Houston suburb has led to evacuations and raised concerns about the safety of pipelines in residential areas. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning in the town of Deer Park, just outside of Houston, when a pipeline carrying natural gas exploded and caught fire.
The explosion sent flames shooting into the air and thick black smoke billowing into the sky, prompting authorities to issue a mandatory evacuation order for residents within a one-mile radius of the blast site. The fire was so intense that it could be seen for miles around, and nearby residents reported feeling the heat from the flames even from a distance.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but initial reports suggest that a construction crew may have accidentally struck the pipeline while working in the area. The company that owns the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, has stated that they are cooperating with authorities and conducting their own investigation into the incident.
This incident highlights the potential dangers of having pipelines running through residential areas. While pipelines are a crucial part of our infrastructure, transporting natural gas and other fuels safely and efficiently, they also pose a risk of leaks, explosions, and fires that can have devastating consequences for nearby communities.
In recent years, there have been several high-profile pipeline accidents across the country, raising concerns about the safety of our aging pipeline infrastructure. In response, regulators have called for stricter safety standards and increased oversight of pipeline operators to prevent future incidents.
As the investigation into the Deer Park explosion continues, residents are being urged to stay away from the area and follow evacuation orders until it is deemed safe to return. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of vigilance when it comes to pipeline safety and the need for continued efforts to prevent accidents like this from happening in the future.
