ITC Deer Park facility fire cause determined
DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) -- Investigators believe a fire at the ITC Deer Park facility was caused by a failure within something known as a manifold power frame of one of the tanks on site.
According to a report released Friday, The Harris County Fire Marshal's Office determined the failure on March 17 was accidental.
"The Harris County Fire Marshal's Office investigators have completed the investigation into the fire that occurred at ITC," Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie L. Christensen said in a statement. "I am proud of the work our investigators completed and appreciative of the partnership with ATF during this investigative process. Our hope is that lessons are learned from these findings, and these types of incidents will be prevented in the future."
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives worked with Harris County authorities to find the cause of the fire, which burned for days and caused shelters-in-place orders to be issued for the immediate area.
RELATED: ITC has few answers for community after Deer Park tank fires
ITC officials said at the time that the first tank that caught fire contained NAPHTHA. The fire then spread to a second tank containing XYLENE. Both are gasoline components.
Officials said the components were in gas blend stocks used in the production of finished gasoline and base oil used for machine lubrication. Another tank that caught fire contained Toluene, which is used in nail polish remover, glue and paint thinner, plant officials told Eyewitness News.
