DEER PARK – A fire reignited at the Shell Deer Park Chemical Plant, several hours after it was extinguished on Saturday.
According to the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management, the fire rekindled and was still burning on Sunday.
The city of Deer Park said officials have gone over their wastewater storage capacity because they are using a large amount of water on the fire. Runoff water was also being moved toward a channel.
Sunday evening, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted an update saying the fire was continuing to burn, but was contained to a controlled zone. Gonzalez said runoff water was directed to the Houston Ship Channel as part of a controlled discharge and boom has been deployed to prevent any product from entering the channel.
Evening update from @Shell - Deer Park Chemicals Fire:
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) May 8, 2023
Unified Command has been established at the Shell Deer Park Chemicals complex. The US Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and other authorities are jointly responding
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Shell released a statement on Saturday confirming the rekindling.
Response crews are currently responding to a fire on site, which was a result of remaining product on-site reigniting. Channel Industries Mutual Aid was called in an abundance of caution, and employees and contractors are accounted for with no injuries reported. (1/2)
— Shell Deer Park Chemicals (@ShellDeerPark) May 6, 2023
“Response crews are currently responding to a fire on site, which was a result of remaining product on-site reigniting. Channel Industries Mutual Aid was called in an abundance of caution, and employees and contractors are accounted for with no injuries reported. Air monitoring is ongoing and has not detected harmful levels of chemicals. There is no danger to the nearby community, however residents and neighbors will notice black smoke, flaring and a potential for increased noise from the facility.”
The Deer Park Police Department said the remaining product reignited at 3:14 p.m.
All employees and contractors are currently accounted for and no injuries have been reported.
The Deer Park Office of Emergency Management said Shell tells them the fire is contained to the area and intermittent flare-ups may occur.
The site continues to report that there have been no injuries. Shell has advised the fire is contained to the area, and intermittent flare-ups may occur. Operations continue to focus on cooling and environmental mitigation to include proper containment of firefighting water.(2/3)
— DeerParkOEM (@deerparkoem) May 7, 2023
The large fire originally broke out at the facility Friday afternoon. The fire burned until early Saturday when the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management said it had been extinguished.
9 contractors released from hospital after Shell Chemical Plant fire in Deer Park