"Early on a Saturday morning, deep inside a chemical plant in La Porte, Javier Ortiz took his last sip of coffee.

He rolled a cylinder across the "blending room" and over to a scale, filling it with highly flammable gases. He filled another as Mike Smith did paperwork at a desk nearby and prepared to leave for the day.

Moments later, there was a flash of white, a shock wave, then flames and smoke."

Susan Carroll reports for the Houston Chronicle August 28, 2016 in Part 5 of a series. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Chemical Breakdown" Series Portal [3]