US: Fire breaks out at Shell chemical plant in Texas, situation ‘under control’

A fire broke out in an olefins unit, as per reports,on Friday (May 5), at a Shell company chemicalplant in Texas, United States. Officials also said that five workerswere transported to a hospital “for precautionary reasons, largely due to heat.”

Houston Fire Department took to Twitter and wrote that they are present on the scene and "providing mutual aid.""Please avoid the area due to heavy emergency traffic," saidFire ChiefSamuel Peña, in the statement.

The incident occurred in the Texas city ofHouston'ssuburb of Deer Park. Images and videos from the site showa large column of black smoke rising from the fire in the olefins unit located near Highway 225.

This was later confirmed byHarris County Sheriff’s Office spokespersonThomas Gilliland who said the fire wasat a Shell facility and the officersreceived a service call just after 3:00 pm (local time) to help divert traffic around the plant.

Meanwhile, Harris County Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez said that they are receiving some "preliminary reports of some type of explosion at an industrial plant" and "responding units can see fire from the freeway."

However, he later clarified that there was no explosion and the fire was caused by a "heat exchange between two heavy gas oils," adding that thefire has since been contained and diminished.

Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, in a statement, said,that his office has been assured that the situation is “under control” and that all employees have been accounted for, and urged residents to avoid the area.

The news agency report, citing anonymous sourcesfamiliar with the refinery's operationsalso said that theneighbouringMexican oil companyPemex plant continued operations despite the fire.

Subsequently, the company issued a statement sayingthe fire was not at one of its units and its emergency response team was assisting in battling the blaze.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. As of 4:00 pm (local time), allpersonnel at the plant at the time the fire broke out had been accounted for, reported the local media. City officials,in an advisory,saidthere was no shelter-in-place order for residents.

(With inputs from agencies)

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