On the way to the scene, ABC Houston affiliate KTRK's helicopter noticed the flames could be seen from 30 miles away. PRINCETON, Ind. Around 1 a.m. on 12/23/2021, a fire occurred at our facility. 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. BEIRUT (AP) Scores of protesters Thursday scuffled with riot police in Beirut as they tried to break into the offices of Lebanons judiciary, after the countrys chief prosecutor filed charges against the judge investigating the massive 2020 port explosion and ordered the release of all suspects in the case. HARRIS COUNTY, Texas An explosion at an ExxonMobil plant in Texas injured four people early Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said there are 33 sites in Texas today, but denied TPRs records request for more information on where they are and who operates them. Thats where additives come in. GUTHRIE, Ky. (AP) One worker was killed and four others were injured in an explosion at an industrial facility in western Kentucky, officials said. Another explosion took place on March 23 in Suffolk County on Long Island. Freeport police said to ask the city manager, who then told ABC13 he was not aware of any release. A Texas pipeline explosion sparked a fire that could be seen from 30 miles away. Train derailment in Springfield, Ohio as residents ordered to shelter in place, Rape survivor 'sobbed seeing Gabby Petito bodycam vid after same cop did nothing', Daughter of murdered couple linked to Delphi case reveals paranoia, Serena Williams stepmom's debts continue to spiral amid crumbling home battle, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, An explosion was heard in El Paso on December 30 2021, reported that it "sounded like an earthquake. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) There is no indication that either a collision or an explosion caused the 1994 sinking of a ferry in the Baltic Sea in one of Europes deadliest peacetime maritime disasters, the accident investigation boards of Estonia, Finland and Sweden said Monday. The accident occurred Saturday in the township of Huejutla in Mexicos Gulf coast region known as the Huasteca. No injuries were reported and there was minimal property damage as a result. Six people were sent to the hospital and four are missing after a Texas pipeline exploded Friday. The plant in Port Neches in southeast Texas, about 80 miles east of Houston, makes chemical and petroleum-based products. "I didnt know what it was. Texas SWAT commander killed, 4 officers injured in standoff with gunman; suspect captured, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Two months before Tank #17 exploded, on Feb. 2, 2018, there had been an explosion in the other tank, Tank #18. Flames and smoke billowed into the air after the tanker exploded on US Route 15 in Maryland, according to Ron Snyder, public information officer for Maryland State Police (MDSP). USA TODAY 0:00 1:13 Six people were hospitalized after a home in a Dallas suburb was leveled by an explosion Monday afternoon, fire rescue officials said. Dont miss a beat. 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. TPC officials know that at least three tanks have been damaged, but firefighters have not been able to fully assess the harm, Monk said. Shortly after 4 p.m., they declared the situation was under control and contained to the immediate affected area of the plant. Im in east El Paso.". The EPA has been aware of problems with the formula since at least 2007, but has not called for its field offices to investigate the emissions or required that companies directly measure and report emissions. Though that is closer to the flash point, it still allows for a buffer. When vapors above a certain concentration come into contact with an ignition source, Rosselot said, thats when explosions can happen. Courtney Wallace, a BNSF spokesperson, confirmed that an investigation is underway and said 13 of the train's 110 cars derailed, 10 of which continued to burn Tuesday evening. WebMost of the booms that people hear or experience are the result of human activity, such as an explosion, a large vehicle going by, nearby construction, or sometimes a sonic boom, but there have been many reports of booms that cannot be explained by man-made sources. But a 1997 study found that in several cases, fires and explosions had happened in materials like asphalt and No. She has also reported for ProPublica, the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, One killed in Jackson Heights apartment building fire, At least five died, including two children, in devastating Rockland County fire, Federal judge upholds demotions of FDNY chiefs, Retired NYC firefighter helps Spirit crew put out fire that broke out on plane. The US Geological Survey also told ABC-7 that there was no earthquake in the area. We've received your submission. A meteor fell in Mission, Texas today around 5-5:30 pm, making a loud bang, shaking house in a 10 mile radius. The more asphalt is heated, the more hydrogen sulfide is created, and over time, high concentrations can build up. 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. At least one house was damaged in the blast, and residents were evacuated from the area, according to the outlet. 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. In 2012, she produced the online interactive A Perfect Terrorist: David Coleman Headleys Web of Betrayal, which won an Overseas Press Club of America award. The bulletin was released in the wake of several incidents in which workers were killed or injured and includes summaries of 11 incidents, none of which involve residual fuels. 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. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Paul Bommer, a petroleum engineer and senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, said he once was called as an expert witness in a case in which a tank containing carbon blacka substance similar to asphalt and No. Harvey Patel was eating lunch inside the Budget Inn Ennis on April 23, 2018 when he felt a shockwave rattle the building. It's about 70 miles south of Houston. BAGHDAD (AP) The death toll from a heating gas tank that exploded in a residential complex in northern Iraq has risen to 15, an civil defense official said Friday. Who knows how many tanks around the country are an explosion hazard but have yet to get a spark?. In the years since, companies increasingly have mixed additives into residual products. If you have the contamination of higher flash point liquids with lower flash point liquids or the deliberate use of additives and youre not aware of what its doing to the tank vapor space, that could potentially be a hazardous situation, Zalosh said. Several people have been injured after an explosion at the ExxonMobil plant in Baytown, Texas, early on Thursday morning. She joined InsideClimate in the fall of 2013, after helping produce documentaries and interactives for the PBS show Frontline since 2010 with 2over10 Media. Video footage from the scene shows debris and lumber scattered across the home's yard and into the street. But additives are not necessary for a pyrophoric explosion to occur. A shelter-in-place order was also issued, affecting around 5,000 people in the area. Flames shot out of the top of the damaged tank, and firefighters let the blaze burn out. In these cases, it is unclear whether the workers did. U.S. Polyco later determined it to be operator error, according to court documents, but did not give any details about the incident. The explosion a night earlier in the city of Sulimaniyah destroyed three homes and also injured 16 people. Overturned gas tanker explodes, killing 1 person. In states that do require that emissions be reported, companies estimate them, typically using a formula developed by the petroleum industry that is often wrong and leads to underestimates of vapor pressure and the levels of air pollution the tanks are emitting. 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. ", Download theNBC News appfor breaking news and politics. First published on November 27, 2019 / 5:31 AM. Troy Monk, TPC's Director of Health, Safety and Security, said at the press conference that all three of the injured workers have been released from the hospital. The explosion in the city of Sulimaniyah destroyed three homes and also injured 16 people. KHOU reports that Mike White, the Jefferson County Emergency Management coordinator, said there are a few chemicals housed at the facility, including Butadiene. An unexpectedly high concentration of vapors emitted by the heavy oils is likely to play a role in both types of explosions, these experts say. The noise caused a flurry of reaction on social media,with one person questioningif it was a sonic boom from military aircraft. The Surfside Beach Police Department said the facility had experienced "some sort of explosion," but no evacuation orders had been issued. It asked residents to avoid the area following the blaze, which broke out at around 1 a.m. local time (2 a.m. he/him. Copyright 2023 KTRK-TV. Inside Climate News made repeated attempts to speak with Chambers, but messages left on his phone and email and with his family and his attorney were not returned. The explosion that injured Chambers was unexpected, but similar accidents had occurred in other places. We are still checking.". 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. In some cases workers were injured or killed, and some explosions ignited fires in other, nearby tanks, causing whole neighborhoods to be evacuated. Harley, a 22-year-old living with her boyfriend about two miles from the ExxonMobil facility, said she thought the blast was "a bomb or an earthquake.". A key indicator of how safe a product might be is its flash pointthe temperature at which it becomes flammable. Asphalt tanks dont really worry us very much, said Mike Hildebrand, an expert in safety management and hazardous materials who wrote a handbook on emergency response for bulk storage tanks, because compared with other petroleum products, asphalt has a high flash point. A construction crew was working with explosives to extract material when the explosion occurred. Speaking at a news conference at around 5:30 a.m. Deep inside the asphalt tank, Chambers lay, suffering from third degree burns to his face, back and abdomen and a shattered right leg. For decades, companies and regulators assumed that emissions from asphalt and No. In this case it is inside Tank #17, Jones wrote, according to court documents. Five days after a home exploded in Westworth Village, Atmos Energy said there was "no evidence" to suggest its system was involved. "Nobody was injured or killed," White said. Volkswagen is recalling nearly 42,000 Beetles in the U.S. and Canada because they have potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. By Jason Murdock On 1/24/20 at 7:14 AM EST. 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. Chantal Da Silva is a breaking news editor for NBC News Digital based in London. WebIncident at Freeport oil and gas company under control, officials say Explosion rocks neighborhood near Philadelphia, 4 confirmed dead Kansas fire caught on video after IE 11 is not supported. The noise was also heard and felt in the nearby City of Socorro, according to acity representative. Nearly a year later, Gloucester City Fire Marshal Patrick Hagan said the explosion is still under investigation, but that pyrophoric material buildup in the tank is one of the hypotheses about what caused it. Copyright 2023 KTRK-TV. Though there were workers at the plant at the time, no one was injured. Chambers and his team went over the plan and reviewed the permits, including one that cleared the crew to use a cutting torch to detach a catwalk that connected Tank #18, the damaged tank, to Tank #17, an asphalt tank six feet away, according to court documents. HARRIS COUNTY, Texas An explosion at an ExxonMobil plant in Texas injured four people early Thursday, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office. Surfside Beach Police Department's Marine Division assisted Port Freeport police and the U.S. Coast Guard on the waterways. ISLAMABAD (AP) A hotel catering to foreign visitors in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul was attacked Monday and three of the assailants were killed, a Taliban official said. Port Neches, Texas Two explosions at a chemical plant in Texas put 60,000 people under evacuation orders Wednesday. 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. PLANO, Texas The explosion that destroyed a house in suburban Dallas and heavily damaged the two next door, injuring six people, may not have been an accident, 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. At least three people were transported to hospital by air ambulance as authorities responded to the major industrial accident in Baytown, just over 25 miles east of Houston, officials said. By continuing to use this site, you accept this policy. 6, resulting in changes to the way the products performand what they emit. Numerous residents of the area reported that it "sounded like an earthquake.". 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. It also apologized for any disruption or inconvenience that this incident may have caused the community. Jefferson County Emergency Management coordinator Mike White told the Beaumont Enterprise that five residents were being treated for minor injuries, mostly related to shattered glass. No injuries were reported. PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) A methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing nine miners and injuring four others, a government official said. The February explosion had no obvious causeno nearby sparks or fires. All of the sudden I heard what I thought was my sliding glass door breaking, one neighbor told KTVT. Police and fire dispatchers said all local utility companies had been contacted, but none had reported any issues. Those additives have increased the vapor pressure inside the tanks making them more vulnerable to explosion, Rosselot and others said. Humble neighbor flown to hospital after grill explosion, deputies say, 5 victims awarded nearly $30M for 2019 Baytown ExxonMobil explosion, Ohio metal factory explosion kills 1, injures over a dozen others, Reporter arrested during news event on Ohio train derailment, Istanbul explosion leaves at least 6 dead, dozens injured, Restaurant fire intentionally set in Atascocita, fire marshal says, 20-foot segment of Challenger shuttle found 36 years after disaster, Railroad worker dies after explosion caused by fuel, officials say, At least 8 hurt in building explosion, collapse in Chicago, Shelter in place lifted after large fire at Prime Eco plant in Wharton, Risk of car battery failure rises as temperatures increase, Houstonians may hear a loud boom on Saturday, NASA says, Flames extinguished after pipeline explosion in Fort Bend County, Driver dies after explosion at Battle Creek Air Show in Michigan, Refrigerator explodes violently, shattering 4 windows in CA home, Incident at Freeport oil and gas company under control, officials say, Explosion rocks neighborhood near Philadelphia, 4 confirmed dead, Kansas fire caught on video after massive explosion; 2 hurt. News Exxon Texas Explosion. "We're extremely grateful that nobody was killed," he said. 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 The presence of these higher volatility molecules means that the concentrations of vapors in the tanks are higher than they used to be, said Rosselot. MINOT, N.D. (AP) A small explosion and fire disrupted care on the third floor of a Minot hospital. MEXICO CITY (AP) A fireworks explosion at a Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico injured 17 people, authorities said Sunday. More:Texas SWAT commander killed, 4 officers injured in standoff with gunman; suspect captured. After the explosion in Ennis, Tank #17 was left damaged beyond repair and in need of removal.