A pipeline explosion is shooting a towering pillar of flame over a Houston suburb
LA PORTE, Texas -- A massive fire involving a liquified natural gas pipeline was shooting a towering pillar of flame for hours over suburban Houston on Monday as first-responders evacuated a surrounding neighborhood and tried to keep more nearby homes from catching fire.The blaze involving a 20-inch pipeline carrying liquified natural gas must burn itself out, according to its operator, Dallas-based Energy Transfer.The company said the gas flow was shut off but the fire will have to burn itself out.Firefighters were dispatched at 9:55 a.m.
after an explosion that rattled adjacent homes and businesses in Deer Park and La Porte, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Houston, long the energy capital of the U.S.The plume of smoke could been seen from at least 10 miles away, and nearby there was a chemical smell in the air.Geselle Melina Guerra said she and her boyfriend heard an explosion at around 9:30 a.m.
as they were having breakfast in their mobile home.“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, 25, who lives within the evacuation area.
Her boyfriend woke up his brother and they ran to their car.“I was just freaking out, pacing around the living room, not really knowing what to do or what was happening," Guerrea said.
“I thought maybe it was an airplane that had crashed down by our house.”There was no immediate word on whether anyone has been injured.La Porte city spokesperson Lee Woodward told KTRK-TV that people in nearby schools were told to shelter in place as law enforcement blocked off a wide area.At nearby San Jacinto College, which closed its campus after the explosion, people who gathered included Evan Wyman, who had gotten word after calling police that her dog Baxter had been rescued from her home, which is in the evacuated neighborhood.“I just know that my dog is rescued,” Wyman said.At least one gas transmission pipelin...