DEER PARK, Texas — A claims line was set up to help residents impacted by the fire at a pipeline in Deer Park. The fire prompted evacuations from nearby neighborhoods and schools.
According to the City of La Porte, the fire started just before 10 a.m. Monday at Spencer Highway near East Boulevard near a Walmart and H-E-B.
Natural gas liquid was burning from the pipeline owned by Energy Transfer. The Dallas-based company said the line was isolated to burn out the residual product.
According to the La Porte Office of Emergency Management, Energy Transfer set up a claims line for people affected by the fire.
Help is available specifically -- for residents evacuated from east of Luella Boulevard to Canada Road and from south of Spencer Highway to Oakhaven/Eagle Run.
For help, including overnight lodging expenses, per diem costs and damages, you can call Energy Transfer's helpline at 855-430-4491.
When it comes to possible legal action that could be filed relating to this incident, Lauren Brogdon, a partner with Haynes and Boone, LLP, said there will certainly be a TRO filed by attorneys.
That is so parties preserve any evidence tied to what happened. That's just the first step.
"In cases like this when there's an explosion or oil and gas facility we almost always see lawsuits being filed by people. We can definitely expect to see that in the coming hours or days," Brogdon said.
Energy expert Ed Hirs said companies usually settle claims with impacted residents, however, this could be different due to the specific circumstances behind how this all started.
There is currently no timetable for extinguishing the fire. Officials said it could be hours or last through the night into Tuesday.
Here is Energy Transfer's full statement on the incident:
"We experienced an incident this morning in La Porte, Texas, at a valve station along Spencer Highway for a 20” natural gas liquids line that resulted in a fire. There are no reports of injuries at this time. The LaPorte Fire Department is on the scene and has evacuated all homes and businesses within a half mile of the incident site. 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. We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the valve location. Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available."