La Porte: Houston suburb hit by pipeline explosion, neighbourhood evacuated amid raging fire

A massive pipeline fire erupted in suburban Houston on Monday, sending a giant plume of flames into the air for more than two hours as first responders evacuated nearby homes, some of which caught fire.

The fire began at 9:55 am following an explosion that shook homes in Deer Park and La Porte, approximately 25 miles (40 kilometres) southeast of downtown Houston, the long-standing energy capital of the United States.

“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 25-year-old La Porte resident Geselle Melina Guerra. She and her boyfriend live in a mobile home within the evacuation zone.

They were having breakfast when they heard the explosion at around 9:30 a.m. Guerra’s boyfriend, Jairo Sanchez, 26, woke up his brother, and the three of them ran to their car.

“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 aeroplane that had crashed down by our house,” Guerra added.

La Porte city spokesperson Lee Woodward told KTRK-TV that authorities have yet to determine what flows through the pipeline or how it will be shut down. Local schools were instructed to shelter in place as law enforcement cordoned off a wide area around the scene.

The companies responsible for the pipeline were not immediately identified. According to geographic data from the US Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, at least one gas transmission pipeline and one hazardous liquid pipeline run through the area affected by the fire.

Another gas transmission pipeline runs through a nearby residential neighbourhood along Spencer Highway, which connects the suburbs of Deer Park and La Porte.

The cause of the fire remains unclear. Houston, the nation’s petrochemical heartland, is home to numerous refineries, plants, and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are not uncommon in the area, raising repeated concerns over the safety measures in place to protect the public and the potential environmental damage caused by such incidents.

Footage from KTRK showed a park near the fire had been damaged, with firefighters pouring water on nearby homes. By midday, at least two homes had caught fire, with smoke billowing from their roofs. Several businesses, including a Walmart, are also located close to the fire.

Jairo Sanchez, who has lived near the industrial plants for a decade, said he was accustomed to evacuations but had never witnessed an explosion. “We just drove as far as we could because we didn’t know what was happening,” he said from a gas station near his college.

Authorities have ordered residents of the Brookglen neighbourhood near the fire to evacuate, according to an email from Woodward. “Please avoid the area and follow law enforcement direction. Further details will be released as available,” she said.

High-voltage power lines are located near the fire, and several thousand customers in Harris County were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

CenterPoint Energy said it was monitoring the situation, as the fire was located near Spencer Highway in La Porte. The company confirmed the blaze was "unrelated to the company’s natural gas operations or equipment."

“We are also cooperating with first responders. Putting safety first, the public should avoid this area until further notice from local emergency officials. When it is safe to do so, our electric crews will 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,” a spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy added.