A routine trip to Walmart turned into an awful day for one couple in Deer Park as they witnessed the crash that caused the pipeline explosion and massive fire Monday that was still burning 24 hours later.
Sherry Richard, an eyewitness, shared what she and her husband saw with KPRC 2′s Corley Peel.
Richard and her husband were looking for a parking spot at Walmart when they noticed a slow-moving vehicle.
“We passed the vehicle, and it was kind of going slow, but it’s a parking lot, so you don’t really think much about it,” she recalled.
As they pulled into a parking space, they saw the car heading towards the bushes.
“It just happened so fast, but again, like in slow motion because you’re just sitting there going, ‘my Lord.’”
LATEST UPDATES: Intense flames linger, prompt major evacuations during pipeline fire in Deer Park
The vehicle then crashed through the fence and headed straight for the gas valve. Richard and her husband watched in horror as the car flew up in the air.
“Once it hit the ground, it just ignited. I don’t... It was just horrible because your first instinct is to go make sure that person’s okay, but you can’t do anything,” she said.
Richard called 911 as the couple quickly moved away as the heat from the fire became unbearable.
“We started backing away because the heat started getting so hot and so intense.”
Richard described the scene as something out of a movie.
“It’s something, honest to goodness, that you would see in a movie scene. But to actually see it in real life is just horrifying,” she said.
Witnesses reported they were unable to see the driver escape the vehicle.
“There was nothing we could do. We couldn’t get out of the vehicle fast enough to go and even try to render aid in trying to stop that person from going across the field,” Richard said.
One detail that stood out to her was the appearance of the driver.
“The one thing that we remember is just barely seeing the person over the steering wheel, and they had glasses on. That is still in my head.”
READ: What gas is burning in Deer Park pipeline fire? Here’s what we know
The impact of the incident has left Richard shaken.
“It’s not anything that you expect to happen,” she said. “There was nothing we could do. We couldn’t get out of the vehicle fast enough to even try to render aid.”
Richard believes the driver may have been an elderly person experiencing a medical emergency.
“I really felt like it was a medical thing because of the way the pieces kind of fell together and everything,” she said. “It’s just a mix of emotions. It’s horrible, heartbreaking. I feel for the family.”
The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.