Houston braces for chemical plant fires out

HOUSTON — Authorities carried out a controlled burn yesterday at a chemical plant damaged by Harvey, sending small flames and gray smoke into the sky, after saying the highly unstable compounds that had caused previous explosions needed to be neutralized.

Small flames burning in charred structures were seen, with a limited amount of the smoke, from the Arkema plant in Crosby, outside Houston. Sam Mannan, a chemical safety expert at Texas A&M University, said the gray smoke indicated a more complete burn with fewer harmful chemicals remaining. By Sunday night, officials said all fires at the plant were out.

Officials said the "proactive measures" to ignite six remaining trailers didn't pose additional risks to the community. People living within a mile and a half of the site are still evacuated, and the fire marshal's office says state, federal and local agencies will keep monitoring the air.

Three trailers containing unstable compounds had previously caught fire at the plant after backup generators were engulfed by Harvey's floodwaters, which knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep them from degrading and igniting.

Some Houston officials stressed that the recovery from Harvey was beginning, and Mayor Sylvester Turner proclaimed America's fourth-largest city "open for business." But the on-the-ground reality varied by place.

Utility crews went door-to-door shutting off power and warning those still in some waterlogged homes in western parts of the city that still more flooding could be heading their way — not from rain but from releases of water in overtaxed reservoirs. Thousands of Houston dwellings were under new, mandatory evacuation orders, though about 300 people were thought to be refusing to leave.

Some homes in the area, which included brick twostory and ranch homes with manicured lawns bordering Buffalo Bayou, remained evacuated but people briefly returned Sunday to try to salvage valuables like family photos.

"I called 911 for 15 minutes; no one answered. My neighbor had a canoe and saved us," said Gaston Kirby, who evacuated Aug. 27 with his two young children. When they left, he said, their home had about 2 inches of water and got another 2 feet from Harvey. But the reservoir releases added at least another 3 feet.