La Porte, Texas — A massive pipeline fire in a suburban Houston area sent flames spewing for hours on Monday while first responders evacuated the neighborhood and tried to prevent nearby homes from being engulfed by the flames.
The fire in the 20-inch pipeline carrying natural gas liquids should extinguish itself, according to its operator, Dallas-based Energy Transfer. The flow of gas has been shut off, but material remaining inside could burn for hours to come, the company said.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 9:55 a.m. after the blast in Deer Park and La Porte, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Houston, in what has long been the energy capital of the United States. A plume of smoke could be seen from at least 10 miles away and a chemical smell hung in the air nearby. There was no immediate information on whether anyone was injured.
Geselle Melina Guerra said she and her boyfriend heard a blast while they were eating breakfast in their mobile home about 9:30 a.m. “All of a sudden we heard a loud bang, and then I saw something bright orange coming from our back door, which is outside,” said Guerra, 25, who lives in the evacuation zone.
Her boyfriend woke up his brother and they ran to their car.
“I was just panicking, walking around the living room, not really understanding what to do or what was going on,” Guerra said. “I thought maybe it was a plane that had crashed near our house.”
La Porte city spokesman Lee Woodward told KTRK-TV that students attending nearby schools were asked to stay in safe locations as police cordoned off a large area.
At nearby San Jacinto College, which closed its campus after the blast, those gathered included Evan Wyman, who called police to report that his dog, Baxter, had been rescued from his home, which is in an evacuated neighborhood.
“All I know is my dog was saved,” Wyman said.
At least one gas transmission pipeline and one hazardous liquid pipeline run through the fire area, according to U.S. Department of Transportation geographic data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Another gas transmission pipeline runs 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 home to a cluster of refineries, plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight for residents in Texas' largest city, some of which have been fatal. The blasts have repeatedly raised questions about the adequacy of the industry's plans for public safety and the impacts of damage to the environment.
Video images from KTRK showed a park near the fire was damaged and firefighters were pouring water on nearby homes. By noon, at least two homes were on fire and had smoke coming from their roofs. Several businesses are also nearby, including a Walmart.
Sanchez said they are accustomed to evacuations because they live close to other plants along the highway. But Sanchez hasn't seen any explosions in the 10 years he's lived there.
“We just drove as far as we could, because we didn't know what was going on,” Sanchez said from his car parked at a gas station near his college.
Officials ordered residents of the Brookglen neighborhood near the fire to evacuate, Woodward said in an email.
“Please avoid the area and follow law enforcement instructions. Further information will be released when it becomes 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 broke out along Spencer Highway in LaPorte. The company said the fire is “not related to the company's natural gas operations or equipment.”
The company said once conditions are safe, its crews will assess damage to transmission and distribution power lines, poles and equipment and begin restoring power to affected customers.
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This story has been corrected; the pipeline is carrying 'natural gas liquids,' not 'liquefied natural gas,' according to pipeline operator Energy Transfer.
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AP writers Christopher L. Keller (Albuquerque, New Mexico) and Valerie Gonzalez (McAllen, Texas) contributed to this report.