Video footage from our sister station KTRK showed a park near the fire had been damaged and firefighters pouring water on homes near the blaze.
The 20-inch pipeline caught fire just before 10 a.m. Monday in La Porte, Texas, about 25 miles southeast of Houston, authorities in La Porte and nearby Deer Park said.
Preliminary reports suggest it was not “terroristic activity,” according to Deer Park officials.
An estimated 100 homes within a half-mile radius are impacted by the pipeline fire, according to Jamie Galloway, emergency services director for the city of Deer Park.
Firefighters are monitoring the fire and doing everything they can to keep the fire from spreading to more homes, Galloway said.
The pipeline carrying liquid natural gas is owned by Energy Transfer, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton told reporters Monday.
For hours, dozens of firefighters poured water into nearby homes and a park that caught fire.
Officials said the pipeline had been isolated but as for the fire, Mouton said “it will be a while before it goes down.”
On top of the evacuations, the fire has led to power outages and closures in the area, Deer Park Police Assistant Chief Frank Hart said.
“I was just freaking out, pacing around the living room, not really knowing what to do or what was happening.
LA PORTE, Texas — According to officials, an SUV crashed through a fence and hit a natural gas pipeline valve on Monday morning, igniting a massive fireball that destroyed homes, melted cars, and forced 100 people to flee their homes.
Although the flow to the broken line was turned off and the fire was extinguishing itself, the city of Deer Park stated in a statement on Monday night that it was anticipated to burn until early Tuesday morning.
Video footage from our sister station KTRK revealed that firefighters were dousing nearby homes with water and that a park was severely damaged.
The statement stated that “no air monitoring issues have been reported at this time” and that after the flames have subsided, Harris County hazmat officials will look into the matter.
Just before 10 a.m., the 20-inch pipeline caught fire. m. Authorities in La Porte, Texas, and neighboring Deer Park reported that Monday occurred approximately 25 miles southeast of Houston.
According to Deer Park officials, preliminary reports indicate that there was no “terroristic activity.”.
The playground next to the pipeline was directly across from Deborah Gamel’s (69) and husband Carl’s (63), home when the fire broke out. “It felt like you were in an oven,” Gamel remarked, describing the temperature inside the house shortly after the fire broke out.
The garage door, the tailgate, and the back lights of Carl’s truck had melted by the time he got outside to their car, she said. In order to rescue his wife and get them to safety, he was able to maneuver it around to their backyard.
Jamie Galloway, the city of Deer Park’s director of emergency services, estimates that the pipeline fire has affected 100 homes within a half-mile radius.
According to Galloway, the radiant heat has caused damage to four or five houses, and because of their close proximity to the flames, access to approximately one hundred houses is blocked. He also mentioned that the residents of the houses have left.
According to Galloway, firefighters are keeping a close eye on the fire and are making every effort to prevent it from spreading to more residences. He said that four first responders, who were all thought to be firefighters, were treated on the spot for heat-related injuries.
On Monday, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton informed reporters that Energy Transfer is the owner of the pipeline that carries liquid natural gas.
Dozens of firefighters doused a burning park and surrounding homes with water for hours on end. Authorities reported that the pipeline had been shut off, but Mouton stated that “it will take some time for the fire to go out.”. “.”.
Energy Transfer reported that there had been an incident at one of its valve stations in a statement to CNN.
“To allow the remaining product in the line to safely burn itself out, the line has been isolated. Although we are closely collaborating with local authorities, we do not currently have an estimated timeline for that process,” the company stated.
According to Deer Park Police Assistant Chief Frank Hart, in addition to the evacuations, the fire has caused power outages and closures in the surrounding area.
Utility company CenterPoint Energy, located in Houston, reported multiple outages in the area on Monday morning. The incident, according to the company, is being watched, and it is “unrelated to the company’s natural gas operations or equipment.”. “. .
According to a statement provided by the company to CNN, “our electric crews will enter the area when it is safe to do so in order 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.”.
Due to the fire, a number of local schools, including San Jacinto College’s main campus, issued a shelter-in-place order and subsequently canceled classes and activities.
The explosion was heard while Geselle Melina Guerra, a 25-year-old who resides in a mobile home inside the evacuation zone, was eating breakfast, she told The Associated Press.
We heard a loud bang all of a sudden, and then Guerra noticed something bright, almost orange, coming from our outside back door.
“I was simply frantic, pacing the living room with no idea what was going on or what to do. “I speculated that it might have been an aircraft that had crashed near our residence,” Guerra continued.
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