55-gallon drum of sulfuric acid explodes at a chemical facility in southeast Houston
By Robert Crowe
The Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2006 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
HOUSTON — Four people were taken to hospitals after a 55-gallon drum of sulfuric acid exploded Monday night at a southeast Houston chemical plant.
The fire started about 8:20 p.m. at SET Environmental Inc., 5738 Cheswood. The company stores and mixes hazardous chemicals.
Thirty minutes later, a small mechanical fire started at the Goodyear plant near Texas 225 and Loop 610.
One man was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries after a motor exploded.
In the Cheswood incident, a truck driver and a plant employee near the explosion were rushed to hospitals with unknown injuries.
“We don’t think they were life-threatening,” said Houston Fire Department District Chief Jack Williams.
Two more employees exposed to smoke also were taken to hospitals.
Firefighters believe the drum contained a solution of 60 percent sulfuric acid and another chemical.
“It’s very corrosive,” Williams said. “It can be harmful to the respiratory system.”
The cause of the explosion is unknown because employees were not tending the drum at the time.
Houston firefighters have responded to chemical fires at the plant in the mainly industrial area before.
In May 2003, a fire melted about 30 drums of waste material.
Firefighters extinguished a blaze in October 1995, when the plant was named Treatment One.
No further information was available concerning the fire at the Goodyear plant late Monday.