Look for another gas price increase.

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/4311969/detail.html

14 Die In Explosion At Texas Refinery
At Least 100 Injured

POSTED: 1:39 pm CST March 23, 2005
UPDATED: 8:20 pm CST March 23, 2005

TEXAS CITY, Texas -- A massive explosion and fire erupted at a Texas City, Texas, refinery Wednesday afternoon, resulting in at least 14 deaths and more than 100 injuries.

The blast also destroyed buildings and vehicles, and sent a plume of thick, black smoke hundreds of feet into the air.

Video


Team Coverage: Witnesses Describe The Blast




The blast happened at 1:20 p.m. at the BP Amoco petrochemical plant, located at 2401 5th Street. It occurred in a gasoline refinery area of the plant, officials told KPRC-TV in Houston.

The explosion and fire left a lot of destruction and rubble at the plant, including a row of vehicles destroyed by flames, as well as buildings blown apart and leveled.

In addition to the 14 deaths, at least 105 people were injured.

Twenty-two victims, including 21 men and one woman, were taken to UTMB Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center in Galveston, Texas. Four people are listed in critical condition and 10 victims are in serious condition. The others are listed in fair condition.

Hospital officials said the injuries range from burns, scrapes, scratches and contusions, to broken arms and broken legs.


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SLIDESHOW: See Pictures Of Explosion
SLIDESHOW: Close-Up Pictures Of Blast Scene
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"We're talking about some pretty serious burns, some people with a combination of burns and blunt trauma from the explosion itself or what we see a lot of times, people who are blown back from the explosion and run into some other thing or structure. We've seen some people injured in the collapse of some structures. We've seen some orthopedic injuries, some burns. We have a lot of people with eardrum injuries where they've blown out their eardrums and can't really hear or communicate well right now because of that. So, we're seeing a wide spectrum of injuries at the moment," said Brian Zachariah, UTMB's emergency medical director.

Lifeflight helicopters helped transport some of the victims.


All of the injuries involve workers at the refinery.

"It's been a sad day for the BP Texas City site and a really sad day for me, personally, as well. Our concern right now is for the families of those injured and families of those involved in the incident," said Don Parus, BP Amoco's Texas City site director. "At this time, it's unclear what happened. The fire was contained to the isomerization unit. This unit improves the octane of gasoline. It was contained to that single unit."

A search-and-rescue team worked into the night looking for victims.

The FBI also joined the investigation into the blast, which is standard procedure after the Sept. 11 attacks. But officials said they do not suspect terrorism.

"We have blast technicians down there and other personnel working with the Texas City P.D. at their command post," said Al Tribble, with the Houston FBI office. "From what I've seen and heard, thus far, there's a lot of investigative work that needs to be done. There's a lot of questions that have to be asked."

Nearby residents said that the explosion rattled homes and shattered windows.

"I was in my house on Tiki Island and it shook the house," said Mark Jackson. "I walked out my back door and saw the smoke."

Jackson lives about five miles from the blast location.


"I heard this big explosion. The whole building shook. Things were coming off the walls and we knew that something exploded. It's just been chaotic around here with everything," said Dianne Burnett, who works across the street from the refinery. "Our scaffolding fell."

The BP Amoco complex is the largest in Texas City, with 1,200 acres. The facility, which lies along the Houston Ship Channel, has 1,800 employees. It is considered one of the most complex refineries in the world. The Texas City site has been in operation since 1934 and supplies 3 percent of the nation's gas. The plant processes 433,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

Texas City is about 40 miles southeast of Houston.

On March 30, several explosions rocked the same facility. Officials said that fire started in a furnace. The plant was evacuated, but no one was injured.

 

That plant accounts for 3% of total US production. There is no word yet on how long the refinery will be down. If the oil companies are predictable, watch a zero slip in to the right of that 3 for what they'll try to seperate the public from at the pump.