A chemical explosion took place recently in a Southeastern Texas refinery. The chemical explosion gave birth to a massive fire that injured several workers.
Even houses miles away from the refinery could feel the shakes from the explosion. The blast took place just after 1 a.m. and the fire moved rapidly throughout the entire plant. It happened in the community of Port Neches, which is around 90 miles east of Houston. Unfortunately, the fire injured three of the workers.
They air transported one of the workers to Houston since he had serious burns. The second one had a broken arm. The hospital released the third one after proper treatment. Thankfully, the water canons reached the site on time and there were no fatalities. The canons helped to suppress the water to a huge amount, and it was effective. TPC, who is the owner of the refinery, said they employ more than 175 full-time employees and around 50 contractors. TPC released a statement saying the event was going on but it will soon be under control.
The general public around the area had a few things to share about the incident. Shawn Dunlap, who lives next to Port Neches, said there were two explosions. He also added that the blast was so strong that it shattered the windows in the apartment of his friend. Dunlap said his apartment shook twice and it felt like a bomb went off. William Joshua Hranicky of Port Neches said the sky looked entirely orange when he looked out the back window. He asked his brothers to run since the back doors blew open due to the blast.
Another resident of the area, Macy Malin, said the explosion damaged a whole part of her friend’s house. The people were asked to evacuate after the explosion took place but the evacuation process wasn’t that smooth. There was a lot of panic among the people and they had to travel in heavy traffic past the plant. There were toxic gases in the air as well since the refinery had butadiene and C4.
This isn’t the only major explosion Southeastern Texas faced. In 2013, there was a fertilizer plant blast in a rural town in the West. This blast killed 15 people and destroyed hundreds of homes.