An SUV crash sparked a pipeline fire that has burned for hours and prompted evacuations in a Houston suburb

(CNN) — An SUV drove through a fence and struck a valve for a natural gas pipeline Monday morning, creating a huge plume of flames that damaged houses, melted vehicles, and caused the evacuation of 100 homes, officials said.

The flames were still burning nearly 10 hours later, but flow to the ruptured line was shut off and the fire was burning itself out, according to a statement from the city of Deer Park.

The 20-inch pipeline caught fire just before 10 a.m. Monday in La Porte, Texas, about 25 miles southeast of Houston, authorities in La Porte and nearby Deer Park said.

Preliminary reports suggest it was not “terroristic activity,” according to Deer Park officials.

Deborah Gamel, 69, was in her home with her husband Carl, 63, directly across from the playground next to the pipeline when the fire erupted. Within minutes of the fire starting, “the heat inside the house was so intense it was like being in an oven,” Gamel said.

By the time Carl managed to get outside to their vehicle, their garage door had melted, as had the tailgate and back lights of his truck, she said. He managed to drive it around to their backyard to pick up his wife and drive them to safety.

An estimated 100 homes within a half-mile radius are impacted by the pipeline fire, according to Jamie Galloway, emergency services director for the city of Deer Park.

Galloway estimates four or five homes have been damaged from the radiant heat and access is cut off to about 100 houses because they’re so close to the flames. The families who live in the homes have evacuated, he added.

Firefighters are monitoring the fire and doing everything they can to keep the fire from spreading to more homes, Galloway said. Four first responders, all believed to be firefighters, suffered heat-related injuries and were treated at the scene, he added.

The pipeline fire is expected to continue burning into the evening, according to Galloway.

The pipeline carrying liquid natural gas is owned by Energy Transfer and authorities have not determined what caused the fire, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton told reporters Monday.

For hours, dozens of firefighters have poured water into nearby homes and a park that caught fire. Officials said the pipeline had been isolated but as for the fire, Mouton said “it will be a while before it goes down.”

Energy Transfer, in a statement to CNN, said there was an incident at one of its valve stations.

“The line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out. We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities,” the company said.

On top of the evacuations, the fire has led to power outages and closures in the area, Deer Park Police Assistant Chief Frank Hart said.

CenterPoint Energy, a Houston-based utility company, showed several outages in the area Monday morning. The company said it was monitoring the incident, which it noted was “unrelated to the company’s natural gas operations or equipment.”

“When it is safe to do so, our electric crews will go into the area to assess the damage to our transmission and distribution power lines, poles and equipment and begin restoring service to impacted customers as safely and quickly as possible,” the company said in a statement to CNN.

Some schools in the area, including the central campus of San Jacinto College, issued a shelter-in-place order because of the fire and later canceled classes and activities.

Geselle Melina Guerra, a 25-year-old who lives in a mobile home within the evacuation area, told The Associated Press she was having breakfast when she heard the explosion.

“All of a sudden we hear this loud bang and then I see something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside,” said Guerra.

“I was just freaking out, pacing around the living room, not really knowing what to do or what was happening. I thought maybe it was an airplane that had crashed down by our house,” Guerra added.

The-CNN-Wire

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