Sunday, July 5, 2015

Investigators looking into cause of chemical plant explosion in Waller County

AND I'M SOFIA OJEDA. THANKS FOR JOINING US. WELL, NOW TO THE STORY, A MASSIVE CHEMICAL PLANT FIRE OUT OF WALLER COUNTY. NOW, IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PUSH ALERTS, YOU GOT THIS MESSAGE AFTER 12:30 THIS MORNING AND WE'VE BEEN LIVE BLOGGING ON OUR WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK EVER SINCE. LET'S GET RIGHT OUT TO GIANNA CASERTA WHO'S AT THE SCENE RIGHT NOW. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US? Reporter: WELL, THANKFULLY NOBODY WAS INJURED IN THIS FIRE. BUT INVESTIGATORS ARE WORKING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT CAUSED THE FIRE THAT CAUSED 12 DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS TO RESPOND. WALLER COUNTY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TELLS US THE FIRE BROKE OUT AROUND 9:15 SATURDAY NIGHT AT FLOWCHEM, A COMPANY THAT MAKES A PIPELINE ADDITIVE USING SYNTHETIC RUBBER. EARLIER YOU COULD SEE FLAMES WERE SHOOTING UP, PROBABLY 15 TO 40 FEET IN THE AIR. Reporter: AUTHORITIES SENT OUT A CODE RED AND TOLD RESIDENTS WITHIN A TWO-MILE RADIUS OF THE FACILITY TO SHELTER IN PLACE AS A PRECAUTION. EITHER A RURAL AREA, SO NOT -- IT'S A RURAL AREA, SO NO T MANY PEOPLE LIVE AROUND HERE AND THERE WAS NO ONE INSIDE THE PLANT WHEN THE FIRE BROKE OUT. WE'RE ASSISTED BY HARRIS COUNTY HAZMAT UNIT WHO WERE ABLE TO LOCATE WHAT TYPE OF CHEMICALS WERE INSIDE THE COMPANY. WE ALSO MADE CONTACT WITH MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPANY WHO WERE ABLE TO TELL US THAT ALL THE EMPLOYEES HAD LEFT EARLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. Reporter: A HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TEAM FROM THE HARRIS COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE IS MONITORING THE AIR AROUND THE SCENE. THERE'S DEFINITELY SOME ALCOHOL AND SOME OTHER MATERIALS ON SITE THAT WERE FLAMMABLE. AND WE KNOW THERE WAS ONE TANK THAT WE KNOW HAD LIQUID NITROGEN IN IT THAT WE WERE REALLY CAREFUL OF, BUT DOESN'T APPEAR THE FIRE CAME CLOSE TO THOSE TANKS. Reporter: THE HARRIS COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL WILL BE ON THE SCENE TRYING TO DETERMINE WHAT STARTED THIS FIRE.


Source: Investigators looking into cause of chemical plant explosion in Waller County

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