Harvey Patel was eating lunch inside the Budget Inn Ennis on April 23, 2018 when he felt a shockwave rattle the building. Pipeline explosion Texas today: Flames from blast could be seen 30 Austin rocked by 3rd explosion in 11 days - ABC News Texas SWAT commander killed, 4 officers injured in standoff with gunman; suspect captured, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. OSHA, the American Petroleum Institute and other organizations have standard protocols to ensure the work is done in as safe a manner as possible. As someone who lives close to the refinery, she said, its very concerning. Rescuers comb wreckage of Greece's deadliest train crash a 2018 explosion at an oil refinery in Superior. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news, By SEUNG MIN KIM, ZEKE MILLER and MICHAEL BALSAMO. recent investigation by Inside Climate News, Lawmakers Urge Biden Administration to Permanently Ban Rail Shipments of Liquefied Natural Gas, In Pennsylvania, Home to the Nations First Oil Well, Environmental Activists Stage a Peoples Filibuster at the Bustling State Capitol. However, the institutes publication acknowledges that the additives can include lighter hydrocarbons. BAGHDAD (AP) Three members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in an explosion north of Baghdad on Wednesday, Iraq's military said. They were hospitalized but their conditions were not immediately known. Who knows how many tanks around the country are an explosion hazard but have yet to get a spark?. When asked directly what type of chemical may have been released from the tanks, company officials told ABC13 they were not sure, and advised to ask Freeport police. The explosion happened just before 8 p.m. when workers for the utility company CenterPoint Energy were trying to shut down a gas line outside a home in the town of Spring, KXAN reported, citing the Harris County Fire Marshals Office. The company declined to respond to detailed questions sent by Inside Climate News, citing its ongoing lawsuit with Chambers, said Alisa Rhyno, a spokeswoman for the company. The Milam County town of 5,400, about 72 miles northeast of Austin, was rocked by the boom around 6:45 a.m., according to Cameron Sheriff Chris White. Chantal Da Silva is a breaking news editor for NBC News Digital based in London. ICN provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. After the explosion in Ennis, Tank #17 was left damaged beyond repair and in need of removal. This article was produced in collaboration with Berkeley Journalisms Investigative Reporting Program. Monday's blasts left one teen dead and We had two tanks right next to each other that we were dealing with: one with fire, one with rescue, Slovak said. We are still checking.". Natural gas explosion in Texas injures 10 people - New Asphalt additives affect the rate and type of chemical reactions during asphalt processing and storage, the article said. Staff with the Childrens Museum of Indianapolis said a frozen sprinkler line had burst, flooding the Welcome Center in the museum that's located on Indianapolis' near north side. The US Geological Survey also told ABC-7 that there was no earthquake in the area. BAGHDAD (AP) A heating gas tank exploded in a residential complex in northern Iraq on Thursday, killing six people, Iraqi Kurdish officials said. Dan Gearinos habit-forming weekly take on how to understand the energy transformation reshaping our world. ON December 30, 2021, it was reported that there was a mass explosion in El Paso, Texas. A shelter-in-place order was also issued, affecting around 5,000 people in the area. The impact sent debris flying through the air as frightened homeowners scrambled for cover. Officials confirm latest Austin bombing was triggered by tripwire COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Officials are assessing water damage at the Ohio Statehouse after a pipe burst during freezing weather, sending water pouring into the Senate chamber, an adjacent lounge for lawmakers, and other areas on Tuesday morning. "It was like a weird feeling, like a wave and then there was a rumble in my apartment and then the next thing I know, all my pictures in my living room are on the floor. In that case, the blaze was extinguished hours after it began, but Harris County officials said it continued to release toxic pollutants for eight more days. Freeport LNG reported that an incident occurred around 11:40 a.m. at its facility in the 1500 block of Lamar Street at the facility on Quintana Island, according to Brazosport CAER. The local news outlet reported that 20 nearby homes were damaged, but there was no word of any serious injuries or deaths. "Once the fire is extinguished, we will be able to determine how much product is left in the cars and work to safely remove them from the site," Wallace said in a statement. TPC EXPLOSION: Home video from early morning explosion in Port Neches! TPC officials know that at least three tanks have been damaged, but firefighters have not been able to fully assess the harm, Monk said. One womanshared a video from her Ring camerathat she believed may have captured the noise. explosion Texas today Yet there is reason to believe that changes in the way asphalt and No. The county has previously sued ExxonMobil, accusing the company of violating the federal Clean Air Act. An 18-wheel truck hit a train carrying chemicals and fuels in Cameron, Texas, early Tuesday, causing a huge explosion and starting a fire that is expected to burn for several days. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A popular Indianapolis museum was closed for a second straight day Tuesday after recent frigid temperatures caused a pipe to burst, flooding part of the museum, officials said. These kinds of explosions in asphalt tanks have been documented at least since the 1980s. (AP) A body was found in a Maryland garden-style apartment building a day after an explosion and fire there and investigators are looking into the possibility of a criminal, intentional act, officials announced late Thursday. Tank explosions occur in two main ways: Vapors ignite after hot torches or other ignition sources are lit nearby, or no ignition source is identifiable and the explosion seems to have occurred spontaneously. ET, Rohan Davis, a refinery manager at the ExxonMobil site, said that all four people in hospital appeared to be in stable condition. Yes. There is no tolerance level for explosive concentrations of vapors in tanks that are vented to the atmosphereit is unacceptable for these vapors to be near their explosive limit, said Rosselot. An internal, floating roof is used to keep oxygen out and vapors in. Heptane, one of the main components of gasoline, is a lighter-end chemical that is sometimes included in the additives used in heavy fuels. But additives are not necessary for a pyrophoric explosion to occur. With more than 2 billion gallons of asphalt or residual fuel, much of it No. Freeport police said to ask the city manager, who then told ABC13 he was not aware of any release. PLANO, Texas The explosion that destroyed a house in suburban Dallas and heavily damaged the two next When fugitive vapors are ignited the flame will follow the vapors back to their origination. ET). Webtoday: 2.5 in Mentone , Texas , United States. The employee suffered minor burns, and the tank lid was blown into the air and landed 150 yard away. As least 10 people were injured in a fire caused by a natural gas explosion in Texas Friday night, officials said. It was so loud.. Judge Branick told Beaumont TV station KBMT the blast awakened him early Wednesday at his home, and that it initially sounded like someone firing a gun into his house. July 21, 2021, 8:49 PM PDT. BERLIN (AP) A ship chartered by the operator of the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline has arrived at the site of last month's explosions under the Baltic Sea to survey the damage, the company said Thursday. An investigation is underway at Freeport LNG in Surfside Beach after reports of an incident Wednesday. ABC-7 reported that police and fire officials could not explain the noise. VIDEO: Explosion at ExxonMobil plant in Texas injures ". Colombia plans to send 70 'cocaine hippos' to India and Mexico, How Paul Murdaugh helped solve his own murder, At least 13 people are dead as severe storms sweep across US. Two people are dead after a chemical leak and explosion Tuesday evening at plant in La Porte, Texas, company officials said. Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonpartisan reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet. Inside a tank, asphalt is often heated to about 300F, meaning that technically, it should be well below the point at which it could light on fire. Another personposted, "Anyone else felt a big boom or house shaking just now? ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) A gasoline tanker crashed and then exploded in north-central Nigeria, killing at least 12 people, police said Friday. PALMDALE, Calif. (AP) Would-be thieves tried to blow up an ATM in Southern California, but didn't get away with any cash, authorities said. Explosion Damages Homes The blast was so powerful that it sent the 12-foot diameter lid of the tank flying, before it landed on an employees car. CAIRO (AP) A towering blaze at a notorious prison housing political prisoners and anti-government activists in Iran's capital killed four inmates, the country's judiciary said Sunday. Though there were workers at the plant at the time, no one was injured. Several people have been injured after an explosion at the ExxonMobil plant in Baytown, Texas, early on Thursday morning. MADISON, Wis. (AP) Federal regulators have determined that a lack of safeguards during a maintenance shutdown led to a 2018 explosion at an oil refinery in Superior. Neither OSHA nor the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an independent federal agency charged with looking into industrial chemical accidents, has conducted a systematic investigation of these explosions. Updated on: November 27, 2019 / 9:34 PM Please enter valid email address to continue. TOWN OF MAPLE GROVE, Wis. (AP) Four people remain hospitalized in Wisconsin burn centers with injuries from a bonfire explosion last week during a party in the Town of Maple Grove, authorities said Thursday. Officials said the blast could be felt up to 30 miles away, and that by sunrise, toxic plumes could be seen for miles. 6 fuel oil. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. WATCH LIVE The first blast, which blew out the windows 6 fuel oil, have become more depleted than in the past, making them hard to work with. Smoke plumes fill air after 18-wheeler collides with train. Port Neches, Texas Two explosions at a chemical plant in Texas put 60,000 people under evacuation orders Wednesday. Whats more: Chambers was still alive. White said the driver of an 18-wheel flatbed truck lost control of his vehicle, was unable to stop, swerved around a parked vehicle and into a rail crossing, where his truck struck a passing BNSF train. The Baytown Fire Department said its crews had not responded to the incident. The asphalt in this case was a combination of asphalt and diesel fuel. "Kind of like a little mini earthquake.". An Explosion in Texas Shows the Hidden Dangers of Tanks Holding Heavy Fuels - Inside Climate News A tank used to emulsify asphalt caught fire and exploded early Texas house explosion that injured 6 may have been intentional A meteor fell in Mission, Texas today around 5-5:30 pm, making a loud bang, shaking house in a 10 mile radius. Texas It was later revealed that there was in fact a construction site explosion in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. in Texas Was there an explosion in El Paso, Texas? | The US Sun Fire officials said that of the six people hospitalized, one was extricated from the rubble of the home that exploded and the other five were in a home next door. People in the surrounding neighborhood were forced to evacuate and seek shelter in a nearby community center until fire crews extinguished the flames four hours later. When hydrogen sulfide interacts with oxidized iron inside a tank (in the form of rust, for example), it can form a new compound called iron sulfidea pyrophoric substance that, when exposed to air, can ignite. At 12:12 p.m., as he stood with one foot on the catwalk and the other on the lid of the Tank #17, Chambers lit his cutting torch, sending sparks flying. Two months before Tank #17 exploded, on Feb. 2, 2018, there had been an explosion in the other tank, Tank #18. The bulletin included several key lessons from those accidents, including avoiding the work if possible, monitoring the atmosphere for gas and identifying any potential hazards prior to starting work. In that incident, more than 60 people were sent for medical evaluation following the blast. The soldiers were traveling in an army vehicle a day earlier in the Makhmour district when an explosive device detonated, the state Iraqi News Agency reported. The plant in Port Neches in southeast Texas, about 80 miles east of Houston, makes chemical and petroleum-based products. Captain Josh Slovak, a 15-year veteran of the Ennis Fire Department at the time, was on the second engine to arrive at the plant. In a separate statement, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at least four people had been injured, with three taken to hospital by air ambulance. Gasoline is well known to be a volatile liquid and consequently, gasoline vapors are controlled using an internal floating roof to keep oxygen out and the vapors in, averting potential explosions. A Texas pipeline explosion sparked a fire that could be seen from 30 miles away. The explosion happened in Wallis, Texas, about 50 miles west of Houston. Details Emerge About The Federal In some cases workers were injured or killed, and some explosions ignited fires in other, nearby tanks, causing whole neighborhoods to be evacuated. When vapors above a certain concentration come into contact with an ignition source, Rosselot said, thats when explosions can happen. Even after it exploded, the asphalt tank was on fire for at least 3 hours, putting out thick, dark, toxic smoke into the community.. Please be aware that there is a mandatory evacuation for everyone within a 1/2 mile of the TPC plant in Port Neches. Texas has seen multiple petrochemical industry blazes this year, including a March fire that burned for days near Houston and another that killed a worker at a plant in nearby Crosby. The tripwire set off the explosive device that was placed near a fence at 8:32 p.m. Sunday, police said. She has also reported for ProPublica, the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press. Flames shot out of the top of the damaged tank, and firefighters let the blaze burn out. The recall covers Beetles from the 2015 and 2016 model years. Environmental and Alaska Native advocates rallied outside the White House ahead of an expected final decision on ConocoPhillips Willow Project. Even in amounts far less than companies routinely use, the additives can have a dramatic effect on how explosive a product is, research shows. U.S. Polyco has countered that R-Tex Services, Chambers employer, was at fault. Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to a 10:21 a.m. call of a natural gas odor at 5726 Highland Hills Road in South Dallas, officials there said Wednesday. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Two people have together been awarded $10.4 million at trial after a jury found they suffered hearing loss and emotional trauma when they narrowly escaped a natural gas explosion in Portland. It is also a possibility it may have happened on the other side of the border. Texas house explosion injures 6 people, fire resuce officials say "They are indicating that it could take up to two or three days to actually extinguish the entire fire.". In court records, he is quoted saying that only skin was keeping his foot attached to his leg. Julia Kane is currently pursuing her masters at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she is focusing on narrative writing and investigative reporting. Laboratory tests have shown that addition of only three volume percent of heptane to Number 6 fuel oil, transformer oil, and asphalt, causes flash point reductions of between 60C and 137C, he wrote in the 1997 study. 6 fuel oil are processed and stored may be contributing to them, and that workersand residents who live near the tanksmay be at risk. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) A Swedish prosecutor wants a supplementary crime scene investigation" at the site of explosions that damaged two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and said Friday that a preliminary probe concluded the cause was suspected gross sabotage.". A digest of the most pressing climate-related news, released every Tuesday and Friday. Authorities work on the scene of an explosion in Austin, Texas, March 12, 2018. The explosion happened just before 8 p.m. when workers One Twitter user recorded feeling the concussion from the explosion 25 miles away. HARRIS COUNTY, Texas An explosion at an ExxonMobil plant in Texas injured four people early Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. According to the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management, the incident happened in an isolated area in a field. The Juarez news outletEl Diarioreported the blast took place on a hill along Camino Real. The incident investigation will continue," said the company, one of the largest U.S. exporters of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. All employees have been accounted for, TPC said, confirming two employees and a contractor were injured. Atmos Energy Corporation, one of the largest natural gas distributors in the nation, was helping with the investigation. "We are keeping them and their families close to our hearts and hoping for a swift and full recovery. She said her windows, air conditioning unit and television started rattling following what she believed was an explosion. It wasnt long before sirens began wailing and fire engines arrived on scene. The first explosion occurred just after 1 a.m. Wednesday. What happened in Exxon 'explosion' today? | The Sun Prior to attending Berkeley, Julia served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. By The Associated Press. Some industry experts believe that the changes in the volatility of the heavy fuel oils from additives may be behind many explosions in tanks containing asphalt and No. Smoke billows from a fire following an explosion caused by a crash between a train and an 18-wheeler near Cameron, Texas, on Feb. 23, 2021. No injuries were reported and there was minimal property damage as a result. These materials are more volatile, can cause greater emissions and become explosive at lower temperatures than asphalt without the additives. We are saddened by todays tragedy of a house explosion in our City. this month: 4.7 in Rotan , Texas , United States. WebThe map below, compiled from data provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is the most accurate nuclear attack map and fallout demonstration available for 2023: (Image courtesy of FEMA and Halcyon Maps) The fallout would rapidly spread, turning targeted cities into whole affected regions. 6 fuel oil despite temperatures never reaching the flash point. It is now common for additives to comprise up to 20 percent of stored asphalt or No. 'Explosion' at Baytown, Texas ExxonMobil oil refinery leaves several On the way to the scene, ABC Houston affiliate KTRK's helicopter noticed the flames could be seen from 30 miles away. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is the second in a series of articles. The first blast, which blew out the windows and doors of nearby homes, injured three workers. Engineering experts say that such seemingly spontaneous explosions can be caused by the formation of whats known as pyrophoric material. The word pyrophoric comes from the Greek fire-bearing and means capable of igniting spontaneously upon exposure to oxygen. Just months before, in March 2019, another fire had also broken out at the refinery. Long-term exposure has been associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer, and can damage the nervous system.