La Porte Pipeline Fire Rages On As Shelter-In-Place And Evacuation Orders Are Underway [UPDATED]

The ongoing fire started at a valve station for a liquid natural gas pipeline owned by Energy Transfer.

In a press release, the Dallas-based pipeline company said it evacuated homes and businesses within half a mile of the fire and “isolated” the pipeline so it could burn itself out.

The company noted that there was no timeline for how long the fire would burn out on its own. An investigation is underway to determine what caused the fire. The company received early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered its right-of-way and struck the valve location.

Original Story:

Residents in La Porte were forced to evacuate after a pipeline fire broke on Monday morning.

According to city of La Porte spokeswoman Lee Woodward, the La Porte Fire Department responded to reports of the fire around 10 a.m. As of press time the fire has been burning for more than four hours and has not been contained.

Harris County Precinct 2 officials released a statement, alerting community members that the fire appeared to be decreasing in intensity Monday afternoon. Two shelters at East Harris County Activity Center and Faithbridge Church are open to members of the public affected by the evacuation order.

Those living between Spencer Highway and Fairmont Parkway — between Luella Boulevard and Canada Road — were required to evacuate the area. Emergency officials noted that the evacuation order was put in place due to a power loss.

A shelter-in-place order was also issued for all San Jacinto College Central Campus students.

The pipeline’s owner and the contents of what flows through it have not been identified. Harris County Pollution Control is on-site. Air quality monitoring updates can be found online.

La Porte ISD schools are operating normally; however, the district sent out a notice that some of the students from several campuses live in areas affected by the evacuation. The district cannot transport these students home by bus and is in the process of contacting parents who will need to arrange pickups.

This story will be updated as needed.