A liquefied natural gas pipeline fire in the Houston area, producing enormous flames and smoke to fill the sky, caused evacuation and shelter-in-place orders to be issued. The video of the pipeline fire was originally posted by Storm Chaser Houston.
The La Porte Office of Emergency Management stated on social media that emergency responders are on the scene and recommended “evacuation” of surrounding areas.
The fire was first reported to the City of La Porte Fire Department at 9:55 a.m.
La Porte has just over 35,000 residents and nearby Deer Park has slightly under 34,500 residents.
The San Jacinto College (SJC) Office of Emergency Management issued a shelter in place for employees and students while the issue is being handled, as the SJC Central campus is located near the pipeline fire. The campus was later closed for the day.
The City of Deer Park warned residents to avoid the area, and stated both Pollution Control and a command post had been established in conjunction with the City of La Porte.
La Porte Independent School District (ISD) issued a statement on the situation: “Please be assured that all students are safe and, as a precaution, are remaining indoors in the area affected by the fire near Spencer and Canada. Schools are otherwise functioning as normal.”
According to Houston Public Media, Deer Park Independent School District is not sheltering in place but has canceled outdoor activities for the remainder of the school day.
CenterPoint Energy stated they are monitoring the situation and clarified that the fire is “unrelated to the company’s natural gas operations or equipment.”
Energy Transfer, which owns the pipeline, said in a statement, “The line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out. We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take.”
Gov. Greg Abbott stated that he has deployed resources to Deer Park in response to the fire and that he is offering “the state’s full support to ensure there are no unmet needs.”
During a press conference, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said he had spoken with Abbott, who told him that any resources needed from the state on down are being provided.
Mouton was joined at the press conference by Jamie Gallow of Deer Park Emergency Management and Police Officer W.F. Hart.
The fire is currently “under investigation” and one fireman has been treated for minor injuries.
Mouton said the fire is currently being “contained” and that they are working on getting the “pipeline source being shut off.”
They continued by providing details about the conflagration, including that “houses are still catching on fire.”
At the time of the press conference, “five houses” had caught fire.
They added that 50 homes have been evacuated and the number of homes impacted by power outages is “significantly more than that.”
The damage encompasses an impact zone of half a mile.
During the press conference, they did not refer to the fire as an explosion and said that they are “not going to speculate on the source, or what caused the fire.”
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