Texas Chem Plant Fire Still Burns; Air Quality a Concern

"An intense fire churned through massive chemical storage tanks Monday at a facility east of Houston, continuously pumping plumes of black smoke that drifted across the region as firefighters fought to contain the blaze for a second straight day.

Although the fire is expected to burn another day or two at the International Terminals Company in Deer Park, local health and emergency officials said early air quality tests indicate the fire has not posed a serious health risk to residents. No injuries were reported.

By late Monday, the fire was believed contained within six storage tanks at the ITC site, where gasoline components and other chemicals are housed in 80,000-barrel tanks."

Jacob Carpenter, Todd Ackerman, Shelby Webb, Samantha Ketterer, Julian Gill, and Nicole Hensley report for the Houston Chronicle March 18, 2019.

Source: Houston Chronicle, 03/19/2019