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The Harris County Emergency Operations Center reported two explosions and black smoke coming from the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby early Thursday, the company said in a statement.

Arkema said Harris County officials notified the company about the explosions around 2 a.m. Thursday, adding that residents may hear additional explosions because the product is stored in multiple locations within the plant, which is 25 miles northeast of downtown Houston.

Nearby residents should stay inside, turn off their air conditioning, and close their windows and doors.

“”You shouldn’t be here, but if you haven’t left, shelter in place,” Arkema spokesman Jeff Carr said. “That’s our advice.”

The company expects up to six more explosions, Carr said, since the plant has eight containers of organic peroxide.

The company said it had agreed with local authorities that, because of the volatile chemicals involved, “the best course of action is to let the fire burn itself out.”

“The plan all along from the fire marshal was that if it catches fire, let it burn itself out and contain it,” said Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Within two hours of the explosions, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to block off roads in the area and a stream of fire trucks headed to the scene.

Highway 90 was blocked in both directions at Crosby Eastgate, according to Houston TranStar’s traffic map. The plant sits just 1,000 feet or so from the highway.

One deputy was taken to the hospital after inhaling fumes, the sheriff’s office tweeted about 4 a.m. Thursday. Nine other deputies drove themselves to the hospital as a precaution.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said nearby residents should shelter in place at home. He said authorities would tell local residents if a wider evacuation zone was needed, adding on Twitter that he was coming to the scene. “

Spencer said the deputies had been dispatched to keep people from getting too close to the plant. The injured deputy had respiratory problems after driving through a plume of smoke. However, the sheriff’s office tweeted that Arkema said the smoke the deputies inhaled was “a non-toxic irritant.”

“What we were told is that the fumes from this chemical were not life-threatening,” Spencer said. “I don’t think any of our deputies are in a life-threatening situation.”


Read Wednesday’s update on the chemical plant’s risk

A spokeswoman for the county fire marshal’s office warned that it’s not clear whether all residents had followed the evacuation order given for the area with 1.5 miles of the plant.

The spokeswoman, Rachel Moreno, said the office heard that a woman may still be in the evacuation zone, though that was not confirmed. Carr, the company spokesman, said he didn’t know if all residents had evacuated.

The National Weather Service reported that winds in that area were moving to the east at 4 to 9 mph as of 4:30 a.m.

Crosby officials had been bracing for an explosion at the Arkema plant where floodwaters knocked out power and generators needed to keep volatile chemicals stored at the facility cool.

All employees at the plant had been evacuated already late Tuesday, as were residents from about 300 nearby homes. The Federal Aviation Administration barred flights over the area.

However, at least one family not far outside the 1.5-mile zone was left worried.

“But homes two miles away are safe?” questioned Alicia Garcia, who had recently returned to the family’s home about four miles away after evacuating Sunday because of flooding.


Family returns to flooded home, finds new danger nearby

Local officials had previously established an evacuation zone in an area 1.5 miles from the plant, according to the Arkema statement issued nearly 90 minutes after the reported explosion.

He downplayed any long-term impact or any toxic inhalation hazards from a fire or explosion at the plant, saying he was not aware of anything the public should be concerned about.

“This is not a chemical release. This is a combustion event,” said Carr, the Arkemaspokesman. He added that the company is bringing air-quality monitoring equipment to the site Thursday morning.

“This site has an outstanding individual safety record and they’re determined not to screw it up today,” he said.


In November 2014, four workers died at a DuPont plant in La Porte after being exposed to a toxic gas. Responding emergency workers weren’t sure what was in the air. The surrounding community wasn’t, either. A Houston Chronicle investigation dives deep into Houston’s hidden world of explosions and toxic releases and probes the regulatory failures that put us in jeopardy.

Click here to read our series.

