Deer Park pipeline fire jumps Spencer Highway and spreads to La Porte, prompting evacuations
Posted on 09/16/2024
LA PORTE, Texas (KTRK) -- Authorities have been responding since 10 a.m. Monday to a pipeline explosion near Spencer Highway and Summerton that started in Deer Park and spread to La Porte.
The explosion started in Deer Park and then spread south under Spencer Highway to La Porte, as the highway separates Deer Park to the north and La Porte to the south.
The flames grew at one point, creating smaller grass fires that crews are working to keep under control.
We are expecting a live update from officials at the Deer Park Police Department at 1:30 p.m. You can watch that on ABC13 and wherever you stream ABC13.
According to Harris County Property Records, the fire is happening on or right near a CenterPoint - owned property.
"CenterPoint Energy is monitoring the incident on Spencer Highway in LaPorte, which is 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 go into the area to 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," CenterPoint told ABC13 in a statement.
Energy Transfer confirmed the pipeline belongs to the company.
The energy company sent Eyewitness News the following statement:
"We experienced an incident this morning in La Porte, Texas, at a valve station along Spencer Highway for a 20" natural gas liquids line that resulted in a fire. There are no reports of injuries at this time. The LaPorte Fire Department is on the scene and has evacuated all homes and businesses within a half mile of the incident site. The line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out. We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities. We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the value location. Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available."
The energy company said in part of a public statement that an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.
13 Investigates reached out to the Railroad Commission of Texas, who released this statement: "RRC pipeline safety inspectors are en route to the incident command area of the pipeline fire in La Porte. We'll provide updates on our investigation as they become available."
At one point, CenterPoint's outage map showed just about 7,000 customers without power in the Deer Park area.
The numbers are fluid.
The adjacent property is owned by Coastal Industrial Water Authority, however the company's executive director told us, "The fire is not associated with CWA."
Officials with the City of La Porte said the fire department responded to the fire in the 8700 block of Spencer Highway at about 9:55 a.m.
Multiple agencies are responding to the scene, including the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management, which is handling the west side of the fire, and La Porte, which is handling the east side.
Aerial views show firefighters spraying homes right behind the fire with water. The front of the houses appeared to have smoke and fire damage.
As for air monitoring, Harris County Precinct 2 shared that it plans to display live readings soon on its dashboard. When the measurements are taken, they will populate on the map in the aforementioned link.
Keep in mind, the readings you will see are meant to be a comparison based off historical "base readings." They are not a determination of how good or bad the air quality is, but rather a way to see spikes in the hourly readings, Harris County Pollution Control said.
ABC13 is working to learn how this fire happened, if there are any injuries, and what residents may be breathing in, if they're in the area.
Road closures
Spencer Highway is closed in both eastbound and westbound directions.
East Boulevard is currently closed southbound toward Spencer Highway. The area surrounding Walmart and H-E-B is currently blocked off to traffic. You're asked to avoid the area and reroute.
Evacuations
An evacuation has been ordered between Spencer Highway and Fairmont Parkway between Luella and Canada, the Brookglen neighborhood in La Porte. Avoid the area and follow law enforcement direction.
An evacuation and cooling center has opened at the East Harris County Activity Center at 7340 Spencer Highway in Pasadena for anybody affected by the fire.
A reunification center has opened at the La Porte Recreation and Fitness Center on Broadway.
Shelter in place
The San Jacinto College Central Campus in La Porte will remain closed for the rest of the day, the college said in an update at about 12:35 p.m. All classes and activities are canceled after the college was initially put under a shelter in place.
Central Campus is expected to resume normal classes and activities on Tuesday.
Students and staff at Heritage Elementary School and College Park Elementary School are also under a shelter in place in La Porte ISD.
ABC13 has several crews at the scene, along with SkyEye, bringing you continuous live coverage in the video player above.
Submit a tip or story idea to ABC13
The explosion started in Deer Park and then spread south under Spencer Highway to La Porte, as the highway separates Deer Park to the north and La Porte to the south.
The flames grew at one point, creating smaller grass fires that crews are working to keep under control.
We are expecting a live update from officials at the Deer Park Police Department at 1:30 p.m. You can watch that on ABC13 and wherever you stream ABC13.
According to Harris County Property Records, the fire is happening on or right near a CenterPoint - owned property.
"CenterPoint Energy is monitoring the incident on Spencer Highway in LaPorte, which is 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 go into the area to 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," CenterPoint told ABC13 in a statement.
Energy Transfer confirmed the pipeline belongs to the company.
The energy company sent Eyewitness News the following statement:
"We experienced an incident this morning in La Porte, Texas, at a valve station along Spencer Highway for a 20" natural gas liquids line that resulted in a fire. There are no reports of injuries at this time. The LaPorte Fire Department is on the scene and has evacuated all homes and businesses within a half mile of the incident site. The line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out. We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities. We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the value location. Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available."
The energy company said in part of a public statement that an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.
13 Investigates reached out to the Railroad Commission of Texas, who released this statement: "RRC pipeline safety inspectors are en route to the incident command area of the pipeline fire in La Porte. We'll provide updates on our investigation as they become available."
At one point, CenterPoint's outage map showed just about 7,000 customers without power in the Deer Park area.
The numbers are fluid.
The adjacent property is owned by Coastal Industrial Water Authority, however the company's executive director told us, "The fire is not associated with CWA."
Officials with the City of La Porte said the fire department responded to the fire in the 8700 block of Spencer Highway at about 9:55 a.m.
Multiple agencies are responding to the scene, including the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management, which is handling the west side of the fire, and La Porte, which is handling the east side.
Aerial views show firefighters spraying homes right behind the fire with water. The front of the houses appeared to have smoke and fire damage.
As for air monitoring, Harris County Precinct 2 shared that it plans to display live readings soon on its dashboard. When the measurements are taken, they will populate on the map in the aforementioned link.
Keep in mind, the readings you will see are meant to be a comparison based off historical "base readings." They are not a determination of how good or bad the air quality is, but rather a way to see spikes in the hourly readings, Harris County Pollution Control said.
ABC13 is working to learn how this fire happened, if there are any injuries, and what residents may be breathing in, if they're in the area.
Road closures
Spencer Highway is closed in both eastbound and westbound directions.
East Boulevard is currently closed southbound toward Spencer Highway. The area surrounding Walmart and H-E-B is currently blocked off to traffic. You're asked to avoid the area and reroute.
Evacuations
An evacuation has been ordered between Spencer Highway and Fairmont Parkway between Luella and Canada, the Brookglen neighborhood in La Porte. Avoid the area and follow law enforcement direction.
An evacuation and cooling center has opened at the East Harris County Activity Center at 7340 Spencer Highway in Pasadena for anybody affected by the fire.
A reunification center has opened at the La Porte Recreation and Fitness Center on Broadway.
Shelter in place
The San Jacinto College Central Campus in La Porte will remain closed for the rest of the day, the college said in an update at about 12:35 p.m. All classes and activities are canceled after the college was initially put under a shelter in place.
Central Campus is expected to resume normal classes and activities on Tuesday.
Students and staff at Heritage Elementary School and College Park Elementary School are also under a shelter in place in La Porte ISD.
ABC13 has several crews at the scene, along with SkyEye, bringing you continuous live coverage in the video player above.
Submit a tip or story idea to ABC13
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