It is also a possibility it may have happened on the other side of the border. Prior to attending Berkeley, Julia served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. Please enter valid email address to continue. Martinez said she too had concerns about the air quality, but said she was not worried about continuing to live near the plant following the incident. It asked residents to avoid the area following the blaze, which broke out at around 1 a.m. local time (2 a.m. he/him. The Associated Press contributed to this report. It wasnt long before sirens began wailing and fire engines arrived on scene. Tank explosions occur in two main ways: Vapors ignite after hot torches or other ignition sources are lit nearby, or no ignition source is identifiable and the explosion seems to have occurred spontaneously. Video footage from the scene shows debris and lumber scattered across the home's yard and into the street. ICN provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. By The Associated Press. If you add something that has a different explosive limit, youre going to change the properties of the mixture, he said. Six days earlier, a similar incident in Stafford, Texas left one man injured and another dead. IE 11 is not supported. LONDON (AP) The death toll in an explosion and fire at an apartment building on the English Channel Island of Jersey has risen from five to seven, police said Tuesday. At this time, were still collecting all that information, he said, adding: We will conduct a full and thorough investigation., Several residents in the area described feeling their homes shake after what they said appeared to be an "explosion. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the webs top headlines deliver the full story, for free. While the information contained in these trade publications rarely makes its way to the general public, the threat to homeowners and others in residential neighborhoods is real, given the dispersed location of such tanks throughout the country. Even after it exploded, the asphalt tank was on fire for at least 3 hours, putting out thick, dark, toxic smoke into the community.. The explosion ripped through a section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod pipeline in the Chuvashia region during repair work. Colombia plans to send 70 'cocaine hippos' to India and Mexico, How Paul Murdaugh helped solve his own murder, At least 13 people are dead as severe storms sweep across US. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A popular Indianapolis museum was closed for a second straight day Tuesday after recent frigid temperatures caused a pipe to burst, flooding part of the museum, officials said. 6 fuel oil has a lower flash pointcompanies list it between 140F and 200Fand is stored around 130F. "Nobody was injured or killed," White said. Justin Chambers arrived at the U.S. Polyco plant in Ennis, Texas, on the morning of April 23, 2018, with a job to do. In these cases, it is unclear whether the workers did. It was very startling, said Harley, who asked that her last name be withheld. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Two people have together been awarded $10.4 million at trial after a jury found they suffered hearing loss and emotional trauma when they narrowly escaped a natural gas explosion in Portland. A car further down the train filled with phosphoric acid solution was unhooked and moved to safety before it could be ignited by the burning fuel cars, and a specialized fire crew sent from BNSF arrived with heavy equipment to extinguish the blaze. Another explosion took place on March 23 in Suffolk County on Long Island. The bulletin was released in the wake of several incidents in which workers were killed or injured and includes summaries of 11 incidents, none of which involve residual fuels. A shelter-in-place order was also issued, affecting around 5,000 people in the area. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the web's top headlines deliver the full story, for free. this month: 4.7 in Rotan , Texas , United States. ". Smoke billows from a fire following an explosion caused by a crash between a train and an 18-wheeler near Cameron, Texas, on Feb. 23, 2021. WATCH LIVE When asked directly what type of chemical may have been released from the tanks, company officials told ABC13 they were not sure, and advised to ask Freeport police. He ran out of the building to see what had happened. "There is no risk to the surrounding community. A helicopter ambulance was waiting to take him to a hospital in Dallas, but with his clothes covered in asphalt, they decided against it out of fear that the fumes from Chambers clothes and body would overtake the pilot, Slovak said. A fire at an ExxonMobil oil refinery in Texas left several people injured early Thursday after what officials and local residents suggested may have been an explosion. Two people remained unaccounted for. Officer Kyle Tranovich of the Caernarvon Township police department said a skeleton crew of only six people was working in the TIMET Morgantown plant due to the holiday before the 2:30 p.m. GRASS VALLEY, Ore. (AP) A small town in central Oregon was evacuated and five people were hurt due to a hemp manufacturing plant fire Sunday. The Baytown Fire Department said its crews had not responded to the incident. Freeport police said to ask the city manager, who then told ABC13 he was not aware of any release. Harley, a 22-year-old living with her boyfriend about two miles from the ExxonMobil facility, said she thought the blast was "a bomb or an earthquake.". NASA has officially confirmed that a loud explosion felt and heard in South Texas Wednesday evening came from a 1,000-pound meteor that crashed near McAllen, Texas at approximately 5:23 p.m. FARMERSVILLE, Texas (AP) A valve leak and a spark of unknown origin combined to cause a North Texas natural gas pipeline explosion last year that killed two workers and injured two others, federal investigators said. A Texas pipeline explosion sparked a fire that could be seen from 30 miles away. One witness said he believed the missing man had fallen inside the tank that was to be demolished. After the explosion in Ennis, Tank #17 was left damaged beyond repair and in need of removal. "We are keeping them and their families close to our hearts and hoping for a swift and full recovery. ET, Rohan Davis, a refinery manager at the ExxonMobil site, said that all four people in hospital appeared to be in stable condition. Several residents on El Paso's eastside heard a loud explosion on the morning of December 30, 2021. / CBS/AP. More such explosions have probably gone unreported, said Kirsten Rosselot, a chemical engineer and the owner of Process Profiles, an environmental consulting firm, who has studied this type of tank. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) Authorities in Moldova said Sunday that specialist teams have carried out controlled detonations of explosives that were discovered in parts of rocket debris that border officials found in a northern village near the countrys border with Ukraine. recent investigation by Inside Climate News, Lawmakers Urge Biden Administration to Permanently Ban Rail Shipments of Liquefied Natural Gas, In Pennsylvania, Home to the Nations First Oil Well, Environmental Activists Stage a Peoples Filibuster at the Bustling State Capitol. VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) Two people were killed Monday when a storage tank exploded at a Virginia welding business, a fire official said. Were asking all of you to keep the victims in your prayers.. ABC-7 reported that police and fire officials could not explain the noise. Inside a tank, asphalt is often heated to about 300F, meaning that technically, it should be well below the point at which it could light on fire. It is a colorless gas with a gasoline-like odor, used to produce synthetic rubber products like tires, plastics and other chemicals. 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But I feel as if this one was louder and bigger than the one in 2019, she said. Chambers and his wife are suing U.S. Polyco and the plant safety manager for negligence that resulted in his injuries. The explosion happened just before 8 p.m. when workers In that case, it turned out the refinery had previously stored other, more volatile materials in the tank, and small amounts had remained and mixed in with the carbon black, leading to a build up of vapors inside the tank. 6, resulting in changes to the way the products performand what they emit. The local news outlet reported that 20 nearby homes were damaged, but there was no word of any serious injuries or deaths. Vaggelis Kousioras - stringer, AP. Four people were inside the two-story home when it was heavily damaged by Tuesday's explosion in the city of Princeton, leaving two people hospitalized with burns while a third person complained of back pain, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and State Fire Marshal said. PLANO, Texas The explosion that destroyed a house in suburban Dallas and heavily damaged the two next door, injuring six people, may not have been an accident, Smoke plumes fill air after 18-wheeler collides with train. No. like, a wave," Sarah Martinez, who lives right across from the plant with her 4-year-old son, told NBC News. Several people have been injured after an explosion at the ExxonMobil plant in Baytown, Texas, early on Thursday morning. 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The tripwire set off the explosive device that was placed near a fence at 8:32 p.m. Sunday, police said. The Milam County town of 5,400, about 72 miles northeast of Austin, was rocked by the boom around 6:45 a.m., according to Cameron Sheriff Chris White. KHOU reports that Mike White, the Jefferson County Emergency Management coordinator, said there are a few chemicals housed at the facility, including Butadiene. The personnel were killed when an explosive device detonated during a security operation in the Khan area of the Tarmiyah district. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Officials say firefighters were called to Trinity Hospital shortly "Plano Fire-Rescue is working diligently to determine the cause of the blast. MINOT, N.D. (AP) A small explosion and fire disrupted care on the third floor of a Minot hospital. U.S. Polyco later determined it to be operator error, according to court documents, but did not give any details about the incident. Harley said she was personally concerned about the potential impact incidents like this one and the fire in 2019 could potentially have on air quality. For more on this story, follow Erica Simon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 6 fuel, because their emissions were thought to be negligible, are vented, allowing oxygen in and vapors out. All the victims are believed to be from the energy company. WebMost of the booms that people hear or experience are the result of human activity, such as an explosion, a large vehicle going by, nearby construction, or sometimes a sonic boom, but there have been many reports of booms that cannot be explained by man-made sources. If you have the contamination of higher flash point liquids with lower flash point liquids or the deliberate use of additives and youre not aware of what its doing to the tank vapor space, that could potentially be a hazardous situation, Zalosh said. Six people were hospitalized after a home in a Dallas suburb was leveled by an explosion Monday afternoon, fire rescue officials said. Shankman has a Masters in Journalism from UC Berkeleys Graduate School of Journalism. It also apologized for any disruption or inconvenience that this incident may have caused the community. Around 1 a.m. on 12/23/2021, a fire occurred at our facility. The Juarez news outletEl Diarioreported the blast took place on a hill along Camino Real. "Once the fire is extinguished, we will be able to determine how much product is left in the cars and work to safely remove them from the site," Wallace said in a statement. Police brought in an explosives detecting dog, though the dog did not discover any explosives or hazardous materials, and police determined that the site was not a crime scene. Several of our residents were injured," Plano Mayor John Muns said in a statement, reportedKXAS-TV. Pulitzer Prize-winning, nonpartisan reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet. In many cases, there was hot work or torch heating on or near the tanks, wrote the author, Robert Zalosh. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) There is no indication that either a collision or an explosion caused the 1994 sinking of a ferry in the Baltic Sea in one of Europes deadliest peacetime maritime disasters, the accident investigation boards of Estonia, Finland and Sweden said Monday. TOWN OF MAPLE GROVE, Wis. (AP) Investigators are recommending criminal charges against two teens in connection with a bonfire explosion at a party in northeastern Wisconsin last month that resulted in critical burns to some in attendance. Download the NBC News app for breaking news, "They have got a lot of people working on it," White said Tuesday evening. In 2019, an explosion caused a massive blaze in the area that processes polypropylene. No injuries were reported and there was minimal property damage as a result. this week: 4.1 in Mentone , Texas , United States. The explosion happened just before 8 p.m. when workers for the utility company CenterPoint Energy were trying to shut down a gas line outside a home in the town of Spring, KXAN reported, citing the Harris County Fire Marshals Office. Asphalt naturally contains both sulfur and hydrogen, which, when they react, form hydrogen sulfide. FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas -- Emergency crews brought the flames from a pipeline explosion in Texas under control about an hour after the blaze occurred. Our first priority is people in the community and in our facilities, the company said. MADISON, Wis. (AP) Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit Monday against a milling company for multiple violations at a plant that was the scene of a fatal explosion five years ago. NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) President Joe Biden said Wednesday it was unlikely that a missile that killed two in NATO-ally Poland was fired from Russia, but he pledged support for Poland's investigation into what it had called a Russian-made missile. The windows on both sides of the building shook, and Patel, the general manager of the motel, said he could feel the blast inside his body. 6 fuel oil are processed and stored may be contributing to them, and that workersand residents who live near the tanksmay be at risk. ", "I got really scared," Martinez, 27, said. Two months before Tank #17 exploded, on Feb. 2, 2018, there had been an explosion in the other tank, Tank #18. Sabrina Shankman is a reporter for InsideClimate News focusing on the Arctic. Though that is closer to the flash point, it still allows for a buffer. A barn burned to the ground, and several nearby houses were evacuated, but most people have returned to their homes. At least three people were transported to hospital by air ambulance as authorities responded to the "major industrial accident" in Baytown, just over 25 miles east of Houston. 6 fuel oil despite temperatures never reaching the flash point. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, One killed in Jackson Heights apartment building fire, At least five died, including two children, in devastating Rockland County fire, Federal judge upholds demotions of FDNY chiefs, Retired NYC firefighter helps Spirit crew put out fire that broke out on plane. Chambers and his team went over the plan and reviewed the permits, including one that cleared the crew to use a cutting torch to detach a catwalk that connected Tank #18, the damaged tank, to Tank #17, an asphalt tank six feet away, according to court documents. White said the driver of an 18-wheel flatbed truck lost control of his vehicle, was unable to stop, swerved around a parked vehicle and into a rail crossing, where his truck struck a passing BNSF train. There is no tolerance level for explosive concentrations of vapors in tanks that are vented to the atmosphereit is unacceptable for these vapors to be near their explosive limit, said Rosselot. We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. We are still checking.". The Associated Press contributed to this report. Fire officials said that of the six people hospitalized, one was extricated from the rubble of the home that exploded and the other five were in a home next door. The first blast, which blew out the windows and doors of nearby homes, injured three workers. One of the asphalt tanks at the plant had been damaged and needed to be demolished, and the 32-year-old foreman was part of a five-man crew of contractors charged with getting it done. Paul Bommer, a petroleum engineer and senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, said he once was called as an expert witness in a case in which a tank containing carbon blacka substance similar to asphalt and No. Judge Branick told Beaumont TV station KBMT the blast awakened him early Wednesday at his home, and that it initially sounded like someone firing a gun into his house. Who knows how many tanks around the country are an explosion hazard but have yet to get a spark?. "Kind of like a little mini earthquake.". I didnt want there to be an evacuation and I wouldnt know because I was sleeping.. Five days after a home exploded in Westworth Village, Atmos Energy said there was "no evidence" to suggest its system was involved. When my husband pulled into our garage, the roof in our garage had caved in.. On the way to the scene, ABC Houston affiliate KTRK's helicopter noticed the flames could be ET). Six people were sent to the hospital and four are missing after a Texas pipeline exploded Friday. QUINTANA, Texas (KTRK) -- No injuries were reported Wednesday after what police initially described as an explosion at a liquefied natural gas terminal near Freeport. Bomb techs with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded to reports of an explosion Sunday morning in Palmdale, officials said. The EPA has been aware of problems with the formula since at least 2007, but has not called for its field offices to investigate the emissions or required that companies directly measure and report emissions. BEIRUT (AP) Scores of protesters Thursday scuffled with riot police in Beirut as they tried to break into the offices of Lebanons judiciary, after the countrys chief prosecutor filed charges against the judge investigating the massive 2020 port explosion and ordered the release of all suspects in the case. The Asphalt Institute did not respond to questions submitted to them by Inside Climate News. He said that "for now" there were no indications that nearby residents would need to evacuate the area or shelter-in-place. Four injured in refinery fire at Baytown, Texas. The impact sent debris flying through the air as frightened homeowners scrambled for cover. First published on November 27, 2019 / 5:31 AM. Overturned gas tanker explodes, killing 1 person. Hours after explosions rocked a Texas chemical plant outside Houston early Wednesday, officials said there is no way to know how long a fire at the site will burn. As a recent investigation by Inside Climate News showed, those increased emissions are going largely unreported by companies. Thus, the potential of asphalt additives to influence the formation of pyrophoric materials in an asphalt storage tank cannot be ruled out.. The explosion that injured Chambers was unexpected, but similar accidents had occurred in other places. On Wednesday afternoon, there was a second massive explosion, forcing officials to issue a mandatory evacuation for the four-mile radius surrounding the plant. The cause of the fire was found to be a leaking natural gas line. The explosion, which was captured on video, launched wooden boards, window glass, insulation and other debris at least 100 feet into the air in Evansville, the Evansville Courier & Press reported. We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. (AP) A fiery explosion that injured more than a dozen people at a Maryland condominium building was ignited by a resident who intended to kill himself and died in the blast, police said. MAP EMAIL In some states, regulators do not require reporting, based on an incorrect assumption that there are no emissions to report. 6 fuel oil, have become more depleted than in the past, making them hard to work with. There were lightning storms in the area on Monday afternoon. Instead, they are mixed with heavy fuels like asphalt or No. Troy Monk, TPC's Director of Health, Safety and Security, said at the press conference that all three of the injured workers have been released from the hospital. Just months before, in March 2019, another fire had also broken out at the refinery. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. She joined InsideClimate in the fall of 2013, after helping produce documentaries and interactives for the PBS show Frontline since 2010 with 2over10 Media. LOS ANGELES (AP) A Southern California trucking company owner who ordered the illegal repair of a tanker that led to a deadly explosion was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison. With more than 2 billion gallons of asphalt or residual fuel, much of it No. All employees have been accounted for, TPC said, confirming two employees and a contractor were injured. At least 37 people were injured and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, In a statement several hours after the fire broke out, ExxonMobil said its emergency response teams were still working to extinguish the fire. Chambers was thrown across the catwalk and about 30 feet down into Tank #18, which held a few feet of cold, hardened asphalt, topped by about eight inches of stagnant water.