Massive Fire at Shell Chemical Plant in Texas Hospitalizes Eight Workers (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A fire broke out at a Shell chemical plant in Texas on Friday, causing eight workers to be hospitalized and sending a towering column of black smoke into the sky.
Authorities are monitoring the air for toxic byproducts resulting from the blaze.
First-responders were called to the Shell petrochemical facility in the Houston suburb of Deer Park just after 3pm local time. In a statement, the company said that while there were no injuries in the fire, a number of contractors were “exposed to product” and sought out treatment as a “precaution.”
Shell did not identify the chemicals the workers may have come into contact with, but stated that “cracked heavy gas oil, cracked light gas oil and gasoline” ignited in the fire.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez initially received “preliminary reports of some sort of explosion," but later confirmed there was no blast. Footage captured by a local TV station showed a large fireball rising from the plant after fire crews believed the flames were extinguished. Officials said the reignition was “contained within approximately 30 seconds” and that such flare-ups are expected.
Firefighters could be seen battling the inferno in footage shared on social media, with some clips also showing a massive plume of smoke billowing into the sky.
The Houston branch of the National Weather Service confirmed that the smoke was visible on radar, and said one of its satellites was able to detect the fire itself from space.
Mexico’s state-run petroleum firm Pemex operates a refinery near the Shell plant, but the company confirmed the fire did not reach its facility, contradicting early reports which misstated the location of the blaze.
Officials did not issue a shelter-in-place order for residents, despite the Shell site being located less than a half-mile away from a Deer Park high school. The local school district explained that decision was made “because the wind is blowing away from our schools." However, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality stated it would monitor the air in the coming days to ensure no hazardous chemicals were released during the fire.
Following a multi-agency response, the fire was fully extinguished around four hours after it was first reported. Shell confirmed all employees at the plant were accounted for. County commissioner Adrian Garcia stated the cause of the incident is not yet known, but added that fire officials would launch an investigation.
