Exxon Baytown Fire: Massive Blaze Erupts At Texas Plant

A large explosion caused a portion of an ExxonMobil plant in Baytown, Texas, to catch fire Wednesday afternoon.

According to local reports, 37 people from the site suffered minor burns due to the incident but no one suffered any life-threatening injuries. A shelter-in-place order was set for the site around 11:15 a.m. and lasted until 3:00 p.m.

Site manager Jason Duncan eventually stated that the fire had been contained and was being allowed to burn out.

Officials confirmed that the specific unit which caught fire contained polypropylene, a lightweight plastic used in things like cars and home appliances. Harris County Pollution Control monitored the situation and ExxonMobil later confirmed that no negative impact on the environment caused by the blaze had been detected.

“A fire has occurred at the Baytown Olefins Plant,” an official statement from ExxonMobil said. “Our fire teams are working to extinguish the fire. We are conducting personnel accounting. Our first priority remains the safety of people, including our employees, contractors and the surrounding community. As a precaution, our Industrial Hygiene staff is conducting air quality monitoring at the site and fence line. We are cooperating with regulatory agencies. We deeply regret any disruption or inconvenience that this incident may have caused the community.”

Baytown is located near Trinity Bay, approximately 27 miles east of Houston.

ExxonMobil claims that the Baytown Olefins site is one of the largest ethylene plants in the world. It is unknown at this time how the incident will affect the prices of gasoline or any other products the company produces.