Massive pipeline fire near Houston started after vehicle hit valve, authorities say

THE DOOR, Texas — A massive pipeline explosion that sent a huge flame over neighborhoods near Houston for hours Monday began after a vehicle drove through a fence and struck an above-ground valve, authorities said.

Deer Park officials said local police and FBI agents found no evidence of “terrorist activity” and that this appeared to be an isolated incident. The ongoing investigation includes identifying the driver. The fire has prompted evacuations and stay-at-home orders in the area, including at schools.

Operators shut off the flow of liquefied natural gas through the pipeline, but so much gas remained in the miles of pipe that firefighters could do little but monitor and douse adjacent homes as a towering flame still lit the night sky after sunset Monday. Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton Jr. said the flames could continue into Tuesday morning.

“The fire is very hot, so a lot of adjacent house structures are still catching fire even though we’re pouring a lot of water on them,” Mouton said at an afternoon news conference.

Firefighters were dispatched at 9:55 a.m. after an explosion at a valve station in Deer Park and just outside La Porte shook adjacent homes and businesses, including a Walmart. Deer Park officials said an SUV hit the valve after driving through a fence on the side of the Walmart parking lot.

Nearly 1,000 homes were in the evacuation zone, said Lee Woodward, a La Porte spokesman.

At the news conference, authorities said only one person, a firefighter, suffered minor injuries. Later, Deer Park spokeswoman Kaitlyn Bluejacket said four people were injured. She did not provide details on the severity of the injuries.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement that 20 miles (32 kilometers) of pipeline between the two closed valleys must burn before the fire will stop.

Anna Lewis, who was walking to the nearby Walmart when the explosion happened, said it sounded like “a bomb went off.” She said everyone inside was rushed to the back of the store, then taken across the street to a grocery store before being bused to a community center.

“It scared me,” she said. “You really don’t know what to do when that happens.”

Geselle Melina Guerra said she and her boyfriend heard the explosion while they were having breakfast in their camper van.

“All of a sudden we heard a loud bang, and then I saw something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside,” said Guerra, who lives in the evacuation zone.

Guerra’s boyfriend, Jairo Sanchez, said they were used to evacuations because they live near other factories near the highway, but he had never seen an explosion before in his 10 years living there.

“We just drove as far as we could because we didn’t know what was going on,” Sanchez said.

Houston, Texas’ largest city, is the country’s petrochemical heartland, home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are common in the region, some fatal, raising recurring questions about the industry’s efforts to protect people and the environment.

From an environmental standpoint, it’s better to let the fire burn out than to try to attack the flames with some kind of foam or liquid extinguisher, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Houston.

“Otherwise it’s going to release a lot of volatile organic compounds into the environment,” he said.

There will, however, undoubtedly be negative environmental consequences, including a release of soot, carbon and organic matter, he added.

The pipeline’s owner, Dallas-based Energy Transfer, said air monitoring equipment was being installed near the plume of fire and smoke, which could be seen from at least 10 miles (16 kilometers) away at one point.

According to a statement released Monday afternoon by the Harris County Pollution Control Department, no volatile organic compounds were detected. The statement said the particles emitted by the smoke are moderate and do not pose an immediate risk to healthy people, although “sensitive populations should take precautions.” The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also said it is monitoring the air.

Natural gas liquids are primarily used in the manufacturing of plastics and basic and intermediate chemicals, Krishnamoorti said.

The fire ravaged nearby power lines, and the website PowerOutage.us reported that several thousand customers were without power at one point in Harris County.

In addition to the damage closest to the flame, the region’s extensive pipeline infrastructure will also need to be closely inspected and monitored for damage, Krishnamoorti said.

He said that “in the grand scheme of things” the fire “will not be a major disruption to supply chains.”

The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas in the state, said its safety inspectors were investigating. The agency said it was receiving information from other pipeline operators about the steps they were taking to ensure the safety of their systems.

Margaret Newman, who lives on the edge of the evacuation zone, said when she heard the explosion, she went out into her yard and could see flames shooting up over the trees. She has no power but has a generator that keeps one room in her house cool, so she plans to stay put.

Newman said she generally wasn’t bothered by living so close to such industry. She added that she thought the flame had died down by Monday afternoon.

“I’m still waiting for it to come out, poof!” she said. “I’m sick of this.”

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This article has been updated to correct that the pipeline carries natural gas liquids, not liquefied natural gas.

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AP reporters Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.