Pipelines Burst, Igniting Texas River; 69 Hurt

Two pipelines beneath a roiling river burst Thursday, sending 100-foot flames of burning gasoline snaking more than a mile down the San Jacinto River. At least 69 people were injured.

“It looked like hell opened up on the water and the whole river was gasoline,” said Mike Norman, who was on the bank trying to retrieve his sailboat when the explosion occurred.

Skies were clearing, the murky water had begun to recede in most areas, and some of the 11,500 evacuees had started returning to their damaged homes when the pipeline broke east of Houston, sending smoke and flame hundreds of feet into the air. The flooding has claimed at least 15 lives since heavy rain started Sunday.

The burning mixture wound 1 1/2 miles downstream, setting fire to homes and boats along the banks. Schools and businesses in the path of the smoke were evacuated. Most of the injured were treated for smoke inhalation.

The explosion occurred near “The Spaghetti Bowl,” the mouth of the nation’s interstate pipeline network. A second pipeline ruptured around 2 p.m.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena surveyed the scene by helicopter and said the blast was likely caused by the rain-swollen river. The flooding since Sunday has claimed at least 15 lives.

The two pipelines, about 8 feet apart, are buried about 3 feet beneath the floor of the river, said Sam Whitehead, spokesman for Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline, which owns both lines.

They run beneath the river for about 2 miles.

The first line, 40 inches in diameter, carries gasoline from nearby Pasadena to New Jersey. The second line, 36 inches in diameter, carries No. 2 diesel fuel, Whitehead said. Whitehead said the company doesn’t know what caused the ruptures or how many gallons of fuel spilled.

Emergency crews had trouble putting out the fire because their boats could not handle the swirling river currents and fire trucks were blocked by flooded roads, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Eric Nicholas. Most of the fire was out by evening.

Company officials said they shut off valves on either side of the 40-inch pipeline after noticing a drop in pipeline pressure.