BAYTOWN, Texas (AP) - The Latest on a fire at a Houston-area refinery complex (all times local):
4 p.m.
A shelter in place has been lifted for residents living near a Houston-area petrochemical plant where 37 people suffered minor injuries following an explosion and fire.
The shelter in place was ordered after the blaze Wednesday morning at Exxon Mobil’s plant in Baytown, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Houston.
The order for residents living west of the plant to stay in their homes remained in place for about three hours before being lifted Wednesday afternoon by Baytown officials.
Exxon Mobil, as well as officials with Baytown and Harris County say they have conducted air quality monitoring of the plant and surrounding area but have not detected any levels of concern.
The plant manager says the fire has been isolated and contained but has not yet been extinguished.
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2:40 p.m.
Exxon Mobil says 37 people suffered minor injuries from an explosion and fire at one of its Houston-area facilities.
Jason Duncan, the manager of the plant where the fire happened, says many of those hurt suffered minor burns and all were being treated at a local clinic. Earlier, Exxon Mobil had said in a statement that six people were injured.
Duncan says an explosion happened at Exxon Mobil’s Olefins plant in Baytown at 11:07 a.m. on Wednesday. The plant processes light hydrocarbons including propane and propylene.
The plant, part of the company’s 3,400-acre refinery complex in Baytown, is located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Houston.
Duncan says the fire has been isolated and contained but has not yet been extinguished.
A shelter in place for residents living west of the plant remains in place.
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2 p.m.
Exxon Mobil says six people were injured during a fire at one of its facilities, the latest in a series of fires in the Houston area involving the petrochemical industry.
In a statement, the Irving, Texas- based company said the individuals who were hurt suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Exxon Mobil says it’s not aware of any other injuries from Wednesday’s fire at its Olefins plant, which processes light hydrocarbons including propane and propylene.
The plant, part of the company’s 3,400-acre refinery complex in Baytown, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Houston.
A shelter in place for residents living west of the plant remains in place.
Exxon Mobil says it’s performing air quality monitoring at the site and “available information shows no adverse impact at this time.”
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11:41 a.m.
A fire burning at an Exxon Mobil refinery in Texas is sending a large plume of smoke into the air, the latest in a series of fires in Houston area involving the petrochemical industry.
The fire broke out Wednesday at an Exxon Mobil facility in Baytown, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Houston. The city of Baytown says the fire is an area that contains polypropylene material and that Exxon Mobil has requested that some nearby residents shelter in place as a precaution.
The area has seen large fires this year involving other petrochemical companies, too. In April, one worker died after a tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire in Crosby . And in March, a fire burned for days at a petrochemical storage facility in nearby Deer Park.
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