Gas pipeline near Houston, Texas erupts in a towering flame, forcing evacuations

A pipeline explosion near Houston, Texas erupted in a towering flame over neighbourhoods for hours on Monday, forcing evacuations and shelter orders and melting playground equipment as firefighters struggled to keep nearby homes from burning.

Operators turned off the flow of natural gas liquids, but so much remained in the 20-inch (51-cm) pipeline that firefighters could do nothing but watch and hose down adjacent homes until it burns itself out. That could take hours, perhaps into Tuesday, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton Jnr said.

“The fire, it’s very hot, so a lot of the house structures that are adjacent to that are still catching on fire even though we’re putting a lot of water on them,” Mouton said.

Local authorities would not speculate about the cause of the fire and what role a burned car near the source of the flame may have had. The pipeline’s owner, Dallas-based Energy Transfer, said in a statement that it was “aware of early reports” that a car had struck some valve equipment but did not offer more details, including the origin of those reports.