Thousands of residents from the community of La Porte, 30 minutes east of Houston, were evacuated, sheltered in place, or lost power after a pipeline owned by Energy Transfer erupted into flames Monday morning.

The fire prompted power outages for about 1,500 CenterPoint customers, the evacuation of the Brooklyn neighborhood area near Spencer Highway and a shelter-in-place order for San Jacinto College Central Campus. 

Energy Transfer said this fire occurred at a valve station and involved a 20-inch liquid natural gas pipeline containing a substance called Y Grade NGL, a mix of chemicals including ethane and propane gases. These chemicals are harmful to the environment by polluting the air and contributing to global warming. 

The company added that the line has been isolated so the residual product can burn out. 

“We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the valve location,” Energy Transfer said in a statement. “Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available.”

First responders from Deer Park are handling the fire’s west side, while responders from La Porte are handling the east. Houstonians are urged to avoid the area. 

At a press conference Monday afternoon, the mayor of the City of Deer Park, Jerry Mouton, said they did not yet know the reason for the fire and refused to speculate until the investigation is completed. 

“[Energy Transfer] shut the pipeline down and until all that product that is inside the pipeline is burned off, it’ll be hours, if not until tonight or tomorrow, before it goes out,” Mouton said. “We’re just going to have to wait.” 

Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders were in effect since Monday morning for H-E-B, Walmart, Heritage Elementary School, College Park Elementary School and th James H. Baker Sixth Grade Campus in the La Porte area. Evacuees can head to the Jimmy Burke Activity Center on West 13th Street and Faithbridge Street on Center Street for temporary reunification sites. 

Deer Park Assistant Police Chief Frank Hart said about 50 houses in the immediate area were evacuated. However, he said far more homes were impacted by power outages. 

Harris County Pollution Control is also on the scene. 

In a statement, CenterPoint Energy said the company is monitoring the incident and cooperating with first responders but that the fire is “related to the company’s natural gas operations or equipment.” 

“When it is safe to do so, our natural gas and electric crews will go into the area to perform safety inspections of our natural gas assets and to also assess the damage to our transmission and distribution power lines, poles, and equipment,” CenterPoint Energy media relations said. 

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