A pipeline fire has burned for hours and prompted evacuations in a Houston suburb
Sep 16, 2024, 1:40 PM
A pipeline fire in La Porte, Texas, sparks grass fires and burns power poles on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, forcing people in the surrounding neighborhood to evacuate. (KTRK via AP) Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(KTRK via AP)
(CNN) — Homes and businesses in a Houston suburb have been evacuated as firefighters try to contain a large pipeline fire, burning for several hours.
The fire was reported Monday morning between Deer Park and La Porte, which is about 25 miles southeast of Houston, prompting street closures and the evacuation of nearby homes, according to the La Porte Office of Emergency Management.
The pipeline is owned by Energy Transfer and authorities have not determined what caused the fire, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton told reporters Monday.
Mounton added that “liquid natural gas” is burning and “it will be a while before it goes down.”
Energy Transfer, in a statement to CNN, said there was an incident at one of its valve stations involving a 20-inch natural gas liquids line that resulted in a fire.
“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, but we are working closely with local authorities,” the company said.
At least 50 people were evacuated because of the fire but “significantly” more people have been impacted by power outages, evacuations and closures in the area, Deer Park Police Assistant Chief Frank Hart said.
CenterPoint Energy, a Houston-based utility company, showed several outages in the area Monday morning. The company said it was monitoring the incident, which it noted was “unrelated to the company’s natural gas operations or equipment.”
“When it is safe to do so, our electric crews will go into 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 quickly as possible,” the company said in a statement to CNN.
One firefighter was treated for minor injuries, Hart said.
Some schools in the area, including the central campus of San Jacinto College, issued a shelter-in-place order because of the fire and later canceled classes and activities.
Geselle Melina Guerra, a 25-year-old who lives in a mobile home within the evacuation area, told the Associated Press she was having breakfast when she heard the explosion.
“All of a sudden we hear this loud bang and then I see something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside,” said Guerra.
“I was just freaking out, pacing around the living room, not really knowing what to do or what was happening. I thought maybe it was an airplane that had crashed down by our house,” Guerra added.
