DEER PARK, Texas – It’s been a rough few weeks for Steve Hutto and his neighbors in the East Meadows subdivision.
One month ago today, a car crashed into a nearby pipeline in Deer Park resulting in an explosion and massive fire.
Residents living close by were evacuated for days as fire crews battled the flames. When they returned the damage was overwhelming.
“You’d step on the carpet and water would come up,” said Steve Hutto.
The water used by firefighters trying to protect his home ended up causing the most damage, but signs of the heat’s intensity can also be found throughout the exterior of the house.
“I would not want to go in there without some kind of respiratory protection, because of the mold,” Hutto said.
Hutto said he and his wife lost 14-year’s worth of memories.
They have since signed a one-year lease at an apartment paid for by their insurance.
“It takes you a minute to process that and I’m well passed that now and I’m onto the next stage, which is mad,” said Hutto.
Hutto told KPRC 2 that anger is directed towards Energy Transfer which owns the pipeline.
“The first week or two, they were actually in the same hotel, and they were giving us reimbursement checks, gift cards, stuff for incidentals and then by the second week they left, and we haven’t heard anything from them at all,” Hutto said.
Hutto estimates that he received about $5.000 total from Energy Transfer but said since then it’s been almost impossible to get them on the phone.
KPRC 2 reached out to Energy Transfer about their response to the fire and those affected but has yet to hear back.