Explosion, Fire at Mont Belvieu facility

August 6, 2020 Star-Courier Front Page, News Index - Barbers Hill Dayton PRESS 0

First on the scene, Mont Belvieu Fire Dept. arrived shortly after 4:50 p.m. to stop the spread of flames from a wellhead said to have begun when a contractor hit a pipeline.
First on the scene, Mont Belvieu Fire Dept. arrived shortly after 4:50 p.m. to stop the spread of flames from a wellhead said to have begun when a contractor hit a pipeline.

MONT BELVIEU – An explosion Wednesday, July 29, at an industry facility is blamed on a contractor hitting a line.

The Mont Belvieu Fire Department was working with other first responders to control the fire that broke out after the blast. According to Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne the fire was quelled about 7 p.m.

Flames were visible from Interstate-10 shortly after the explosion Wednesday afternoon. Traffic was halted on nearby roads to aid firefighters from Mont Belvieu and surrounding areas battle to flames.

A wellhead burned itself out; the entire plant was not involved in the fire. Roads in the area around the Lone Star NGL Facility in remain closed after an explosion and fire on Wednesday afternoon. Highway 146 was closed from FM 1942 to FM 565 to accommodate fire crews. Mont Belvieu Police say the call came in around 4:45 p.m. on West Winfree at State Highway 146 at the Lone Star NGL (natural gas liquids) facility, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer LP. The Lone Star facility stores and separates natural gas liquids, like propane, butane and ethane. Transmission pipelines from the Permian Basin, Barnett Shale and East Texas make up the company’s Lone Star Express network, 535 miles of pipeline that ships natural gas liquids from shale plays to the Mont Belvieu storage and fractionation facility. Lone Star NGL officials said a contractor struck an underground pipeline. There were no injuries. Due to the ongoing firefighting operations, water pressure throughout the city was affected. The public works department diverted as much water as possible to support the response to the blaze.

Mont Belvieu Fire Department battles blaze with extended high pressure hose to cool the area and prevent the spread of flames to surrounding property. The flames of a well extinguished themselves shortly after 7:00 p.m.