Fire Levels Chemical Plant Near Houston

A series of explosions sparked a fire Wednesday that destroyed a chemical plant here and forced about 100 people living nearby to evacuate their homes, officials said. No injuries were reported but one house was destroyed.

The blaze at Third Coast Packaging sent flames soaring hundreds of feet into the air.

Residents were awakened when their windows were rattled by the blasts at the plant, which packages and labels chemicals and includes a tank farm for storage.

“It was chaos--firetrucks, officers, balls of fire and loud explosions,” said Carlie Bankston, 21, who lives about three houses down from the plant.

The explosions were heard as far as five miles from the plant and flames were seen more than 10 miles away, witnesses said. Pearland is about 20 miles southeast of Houston.

By late afternoon, no flames were visible but the fire still smoldered under the blackened ruins of the plant where petrochemicals were blended into products such as antifreeze and motor oil.

The company had more than 90 tanks on site, each holding as much as 50,000 gallons of petroleum products, company President Tim Elliott said.

“We had flames 800 feet in the air at the plant,” Houston District Fire Chief Jack Williams said. “At one point, about 15 tanks were on fire.”

He said it would take two to three days for the burning petroleum products to be extinguished.

Williams said two warehouses and one house were destroyed. Occupants of the house had been evacuated but firefighters were unable to save the building.

A check for toxic chemicals showed no such substances were involved.