Human remains were found Thursday in the vehicle involved in Monday's natural gas pipeline fire near Deer Park and La Porte, Deer Park city officials said as efforts to extinguish the blaze which led to the evacuation of nearby homes and businesses continued.

The remains were discovered after the SUV was towed a few hundred feet from where it caught fire, apparently after it struck an above ground valve to the pipeline. Authorities also said they had begun a criminal investigation, and that no further information would be released until a motive is determined and the investigation concludes.

The Deer Park Police Department and Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences were working together on the investigation at the Energy Transfer property site off Spencer Highway, said Kaitlyn Bluejacket, spokesperson for the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management.

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Authorities have not provided any other information about the driver. Representatives with the Deer Park police and medical examiner's office were not available for further updates late Thursday afternoon.

Officials with the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, said they would conduct a separate investigation into the fire but had not been cleared to access the site as of Thursday afternoon.

Several law enforcement police officers on Thursday guarded the site, where a blue tent was erected over the burned SUV.

The pipeline fire shrank significantly on Wednesday but was still burning Thursday, with officials previously stating they hoped to complete repairs by 6 p.m. The installation process of specialized pipeline isolation equipment on either side of the damaged area continued Thursday.

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Once completed, the installed equipment would allow for Energy Transfer to expedite the removal and replacement of damaged pipeline parts, and the fire would be extinguished a few hours later.

Lina Hidalgo shares details on timeline

The timeline for repair has changed over the last few days, but crews with a third-party contractor were working diligently to contain the blaze, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said during a briefing livestreamed by KHOU on Thursday afternoon.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it goes longer, given how the timeline has been stretched so far," Hidalgo said.

Located on the border of Deer Park, La Porte and Pasadena, the fire had been burning since Monday.

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First report on emissions from the pipeline fire

An initial report from Energy Transfer on the gas that burned or escaped as a result of the fire estimates over 867,000 pounds of petrochemical feedstock spewed from the company's pipeline since Monday. The report was made public for the first time Thursday on the The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's online emissions event database.

Energy Transfer said in the report that the numbers were "a conservative estimate for an ongoing event." Emissions totals can increase substantially in companies' final reports, which are due to the state agency after more thorough assessment.

The toxic gases let loose from the pipeline included 143,278 pounds of n-pentane and 108,408 pounds of isobutane, which can cause irritation to the nose, throat, eyes, skin, and lungs if inhaled. Other chemicals released from the pipeline include carbon monoxide, hexanes, nitrous oxides, propane and additional volatile organic compounds.

Early air quality testing by the company and Harris County Pollution Control Services suggested that most of the chemicals combusted, turning them into particulate matter — a secondary pollutant that poses its own respiratory and cardiac dangers — and that the pollution was mostly under their health thresholds in the areas measured.

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Still, local anti-pollution nonprofit Air Alliance Houston cautioned that the quantity of toxic chemicals released was "significant" and advised skepticism of the company's self-reported pollution levels, advising that "people in the vicinity of the incident should continue to take precautions." (edited)

Evacuation order lifted

Deer Park officials lifted the evacuation order for areas surrounding the fire Wednesday night. Spencer Highway between Luella Avenue and East/Canada Boulevard remained closed. The Walmart store on Spencer Highway reopened Thursday morning. Air monitoring will continue at nearby schools, including Heritage Elementary and College Park Elementary as of Thursday morning.

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Owners of La Porte businesses on Spencer Highway were allowed to return to their properties Thursday afternoon, but were advised that many customers would need to use rear exits to avoid the road closure.

Lauren Brogdon, an attorney who leads Haynes Boone's crisis management practice group, said it might be a while before answers and resolutions are finalized.

"These things often take several years, because of the investigations that need to happen and because of the exchange of documents and interviews of witnesses," Brogdon said.

Correction (Sept. 19, 11:37 a.m.): A previous version of this story's headline said that the remains were of the driver. That detail had not been confirmed, as of Thursday morning.