Hurricane Harvey: Chemical Plant Northeast Of Houston Engulfed In Flames

AUSTIN, TX — A chemical plant in northeast Texas affected by flooding resulting from Hurricane Harvey, has caught fire Friday and is at risk of exploding.

Fifteen firefighters were overcome with smoke during earlier small fires at the Arkema Chemical plant earlier this week, inhalant irritants that had been spewed into the air from previous, small explosions. By Friday afternoon, a larger fire erupted that was shooting flames several stories high into the air.

As flood waters rose along the states's coastal region this week as a result of Hurricane Harvey, officials evacuated the building for fear of explosion. The exodus left the chemicals requiring constant cooling without monitoring, setting the stage for the materials to become unstable and combustible.

A mile-and-a-half radius was set up around the plant to protect adjacent homes and businesses. Since abandoned, the chemicals in the plant aren't being monitored for refrigeration need for the organic peroxide produced there cool to avoid combustion.

With the plant empty, officials expected inevitable fires and explosions but could not be inside the plant given the dangers. Emergency crews now are hoping for the fires to burn themselves out with minimal damage from resulting explosions.

For now, the plant is consumed in flames during a conflagration sparked at around 5 p.m. CDT. News station WFAA has a camera trained at the plant, from a safe distance, providing a live stream of the fire.

Owned by a France-based parent company, the Arkema Chemical plant is considered one of the most toxic in the state. But a law enacted by then-Attorney General Greg Abbott (now governor of Texas) in the wake of the deadly explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, allows chemical plant officials to shield from the public the specific chemicals handled at such facilities.

The West, Texas, explosion killed 15 people, destroyed numerous surrounding buildings and left a crater on the scarred earth at the site 90 feet in diameter.

This is a developing story. Patch will update as more details become available.

Related story: Hurricane Harvey: Chemical 'Release' At Plant Struck By Storm Sends 10 Deputies To Hospital

>>> Image via Shutterstock