RESIDENTS FLEE FOURTH MAJOR PETROCHEMICAL FIRE

Three workers were injured and nearby residents were told to flee after explosions Wednesday at a Texas petrochemical plant, the latest in a series of chemical plant accidents in the region. An early morning blast at a TPC Group complex in Port Neches, Texas, was followed by a series of secondary explosions that shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges. Jefferson County officials ordered about 60,000 residents within a 6.4km radius of the facility to leave after a distillation column blew up about 2 p.m. The mandatory evacuation covers Port Neches and Groves, and portions of Nederland and Port Arthur, Texas, officials said. “We cannot speak to the cause of the incident or the extent of damage,” the company said.