A massive fire broke out on Friday at a petrochemical plant in the Houston vicinity, resulting in the hospitalization of nine workers and a massive plume of smoke that could be seen from miles away.
The incident took place at the Shell facility in Deer Park, an eastern suburb of Houston, and emergency responders were summoned around 3 p.m. Despite the magnitude of the fire, the city of Deer Park issued an advisory stating that there was no need for residents to take shelter in place.
According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, five contracted workers were hospitalized due to heat exhaustion and proximity to the fire at the Shell facility in Deer Park. The workers were reportedly taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons and were not burned.
In a tweet on Friday night, Shell Deer Park officials confirmed that they were still dealing with the aftermath of the fire, but all workers were safe and accounted for. Additionally, nine workers were discharged after receiving medical evaluations as a precautionary measure.
