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TEXAS DEER PARK, Texas — A pipeline explosion near Houston erupted in a towering flame over neighborhoods for hours on Monday, forcing evacuations and shelter orders and melting playground equipment as firefighters struggled to keep nearby homes from burning. Operators shut off the flow of natural gas liquids, but so much remained in the 20-inch pipeline that firefighters could do nothing but watch and hose down adjacent homes until it burns itself out. That could take hours, perhaps into Tuesday, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton Jr.
said. "The fire, it's very hot, so a lot of the house structures that are adjacent to that are still catching on fire even though we're putting a lot of water on them," Mouton said. Local authorities would not speculate about the cause of the fire and what role a burned car near the source of the flame might have had.
The pipeline's owner, Dallas-based Energy Transfer, said in a statement that it was "aware of early reports" that a car had struck some valve equipment but did not offer more details, including the origin of those reports. People are also reading..
. One firefighter sustained a minor injury, the only one reported so far. Firefighters were dispatched at 9:55 a.
m. after an explosion at a valve station in Deer Park and right next to La Porte rattled adjacent homes and businesses. Almost 1,000 homes are in the evacuation area, said Lee Woodward, a spokesperson for La Porte.
Students at several public schools were told to shelter in place as law enforcement blocked off a wide area. Some evacuees gathered at nearby San Jacinto College, which closed its campus after the explosion. Energy Transfer said air monitoring equipment was being set up near the plume of fire and smoke, which could be seen from at least 10 miles away.
A statement from Harris County Pollution Control on Monday afternoon said no volatile organic compounds were detected. The statement said particulate matter from the smoke was moderate and not an immediate risk to healthy people, though "sensitive populations may want to take precautions." Houston is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines.
Explosions and fires are a familiar sight in the area, including some that have been deadly. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
