Houston, Texas, news outlet KHOU 11 published a nearly hour-long livestream of the firefighting efforts to their Facebook page. Authorities first received reports of the explosion around 4:45 p.m. local time, reported KHOU 11.
"The ground shook. That's why we knew it wasn't thunder," one witness told the outlet, speaking of the initial explosion from the natural gas liquid (NGL) facility.
Images posted to social media by local outlet 12News' Paul Bergen show firefighters attempting to extinguish the flames produced from the industrial explosion Wednesday evening.
Mont Belvieu firefighters on scene of an “industrial explosion” on W. Winfree and Hwy 146 at about 4:45. was called in to 911. PHOTOS: City of Mont Belvieu pic.twitter.com/Me6l9ajx1D
— Paul Bergen (@pbergen2000) July 29, 2020
The Lone Star NGL facility in Mont Belvieu, located 30 miles east of Houston, is a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP, which is based out of Dallas Texas.
The Mont Belvieu location began service in January 2020 and became Lone Star NGL's seventh natural gas liquids fractionation facility.
Wednesday's explosion comes as the company plans to have its 24-inch, 352-mile Lone Star Express NGL pipeline expansion in service by the fourth quarter of 2020.
