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March 22 (UPI) -- A massive explosion and fire at a Texas chemical plant Wednesday injured one person as liquid petroleum gas was being transferred between tankers. The fire has been extinguished, according to local officials who said they continue to monitor the air around the plant.
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The explosion and fire at the INEOS chemical site in the Pasadena area was first reported at 12:11 p.m. as two explosions but was actually one BLEVE, or boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion, according to Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia.
The explosion, which was captured on Houston TranStar cameras, occurred when an over-the-road tanker truck transported liquid petroleum gas from one tanker to another, Garcia said. One person was injured in the explosion and is in stable condition. Everyone at the plant has been accounted for, officials said.
"As a result of that process, we do not know exactly what did not happen right, but as we know an explosion occurred -- a BLEVE occurred -- and numerous 911 calls came into the Harris County Sheriff's Office," Garcia told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
Garcia said numerous roads, including SH-225 near the East Beltway, were shut down as a precaution, but have since reopened.
INEOS produces products relating to oil and gas, chemicals and polymers, according to the company's website.
"At this point, there are no known impacts to the community at large," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters during an afternoon briefing, as HazMat crews continued to monitor the air in the area.
"We did do monitoring in the area north of the fire," said Dr. Latrice Babin, executive director of Harris County Pollution Control Services. "As of this time, there are not any detections and we are not expecting there to be any. Fortunately, we have good wind blowing that's dispersing whatever was up high and aloof in the flame."
While the explosion occurred during the transfer of liquid petroleum gas between two tankers, fire officials said there will be an investigation as to what happened.
"We are going to be conducting an investigation into this incident. We have not been able to make it inside the plant as of yet. It is still an active scene," Deputy Chief Chad Shaw, of the Harris County Fire Marshal Office, told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
"Anytime you have a transfer of a chemical like that, if there's any kind of vapor, it can find an ignition source anywhere. So that's going to be part of our investigation," he said.
