LA PORTE, Texas (KTRK) — Eyewitness News coverage of the pipeline explosion in Deer Park focused on a white SUV near the raging fire Monday, sparking curiosity and suspicion.
However, Deer Park police said a few hours after the fire that the SUV hit an above-ground pipeline valve. Police said the initial report also stated that there was no terrorist activity and it was an isolated incident.
According to police, the SUV jumped a fence on the western edge of the Walmart parking lot in the 9000 block of Spencer Highway. The vehicle entered an adjacent pipeline and struck a valve.
Police are trying to identify the vehicle and the driver.
The resulting explosion began in Deer Park and then spread south to La Porte, down the Spencer Highway, as that highway separates Deer Park to the north and La Porte to the south.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, including the Deer Park Emergency Management Office, which handled the western portion of the fire, and La Porte, which handled the eastern portion.
Energy Transfer, the company that owns the pipeline, said liquefied natural gas was burning, and that it would take several hours to extinguish the fire.
Energy Transfer sent the following statement to Eyewitness News:
“This morning an incident occurred to a 20″ natural gas liquids line at a valve station along Spencer Highway in La Porte, Texas, resulting in a fire. There are no reports of injuries at this time. The La Porte Fire Department is on scene and has evacuated all homes and businesses within a half mile of the incident location. The line has been isolated so that any product left in the line can safely burn off. At this time we do not have a timeline for how long this process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities. We are aware of initial reports that indicate an unmarked passenger car entered our jurisdiction and struck the Value location. Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being installed in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available.”
Also see: What are natural gas liquids? La Porte identifies 'Y grade NGL' as chemical burning in pipeline
Aerial footage shows firefighters spraying water on homes just behind the fire. Smoke and fire damage can be seen in front of homes.
A Deer Park official told ABC13's Daniela Hurtado that four people were injured in the incident, including a firefighter who suffered minor injuries. The four people also include two people hospitalized and two with heat-related injuries.
The flames grew at one point, starting a small grass fire that crews are working to put out. City officials said the impact zone is about 1/2 mile from the fire.
During a press conference, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said the fire is contained to a limited area, but local officials have implemented evacuation and shelter-in-place orders for the surrounding areas, including HEB, Walmart, Heritage Elementary, College Park Elementary, James H. Baker, San Jacinto College.
Energy Transfer said in a public statement that an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
In the wake of the incident, the company opened a support line at 855-430-4491 for anyone displaced and/or affected by the fire.
At one point, CenterPoint’s outage map showed about 7,000 customers in the Deer Park area were without power.
The numbers are volatile.
The adjacent property is owned by the Coastal Industrial Water Authority. However, the company's executive director told Eyewitness News that “the fire has nothing to do with the CWA.”
For air monitoring, Harris County Precinct 2 shared that it plans to display live readings on its dashboard soon. When measurements are taken, they will populate the map using the above link.
Keep in mind that the readings you'll see are for comparison against a historical “base reading.” They don't determine how good or bad the air quality is, but rather they're a way to look at spikes in hourly readings, Harris County Pollution Control said.
SkyEye video shows at least two homes burned down due to a large pipeline fire in the La Porte/Deer Park area.
The fire occurred on or immediately adjacent to property owned by CenterPoint, according to Harris County property records.
CenterPoint Energy said in a statement to ABC13, “CenterPoint Energy is monitoring the incident on Spencer Highway in LaPorte, which is not related to the company's natural gas operations or equipment. We are also cooperating with first responders. Putting safety first, people should avoid the area until further notice from local emergency officials. When it is safe to do so, our electric crews will be in 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 as quickly as possible.”
Roads closed
The Spencer Highway is closed in both east and west directions.
The City of La Porte reopened Luella Boulevard to reduce the evacuation zone south of the fire. As of 7 p.m., the currently evacuated areas are bounded by Scotch Moss, Spencer Highway, Canada Road and Oak Haven/Eagle Run.
Hours after the pipeline fire broke out, the company that owns the infrastructure issued a statement saying it did not know when the fire would be extinguished.
Evacuation and sheltering
Evacuations were ordered in the Brookglen neighborhood of La Porte, between Luella and Canada, between Spencer Highway and Oakhaven. The order was initially extended to Fairmont Parkway, but was lifted later in the afternoon.
Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders also apply to the surrounding neighborhood, including HEB, Walmart, Heritage Elementary, College Park Elementary, James H. Baker and San Jacinto College.
Avoid the area and follow law enforcement instructions.
Officials said about 50 homes had been evacuated, and about five homes were being flooded.
Harris County Precinct 2 initially declared the East Harris County Activity Center in Pasadena a shelter, but later in the evening officials said the facility was closed. A previously announced shelter at Faithbridge Church at 4711 Center Street in Deer Park remains open for those affected.
A reunification center has also opened at the La Porte Recreation & Fitness Center on Broadway.
San Jacinto College Central Campus in La Porte will be closed for the remainder of the day, the college said in an update around 12:35 p.m. All classes and activities have been canceled after the college was initially placed in a shelter-in-place order.
Normal classes and activities are expected to resume at the Central Campus on Tuesday.
Students and staff at Heritage Elementary School and College Park Elementary School are also sheltering in place in La Porte ISD.
La Porte ISD said students living in affected areas, where buses are unable to reach because of road closures, have been contacted by the districts, and those parents will need to make arrangements to pick up their children.
La Porte ISD said, “Although our schools are operating as normal, students at several of our campuses live in areas affected by the evacuation. Therefore, we are unable to bus those children home. The district is in the process of contacting parents who will need to make arrangements to pick up their students (from their home campus).”
13 Investigators contacted the Railroad Commission of Texas, which issued this statement:
“Pipeline safety inspectors from the Texas Railroad Commission are investigating a fire on an Energy Transfer natural gas liquids pipeline in La Porte Monday morning. Energy Transfer has shut down the section of the pipeline that was on fire. RRC inspectors will be working with state and local emergency responders at the scene. The fire was contained to a pipeline corridor, and RRC is notifying other pipeline operators in the corridor of the incident and obtaining information on measures they are taking to ensure the safety of their systems.”
Multiple ABC13 crews are on the scene, as well as SkyEye, which is bringing you continuous live coverage in the video player above.
13 Investigates: Energy Transfer waited hours before issuing statement on pipeline fire
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