LA PORTE, Texas — A spokeswoman for Intercontinental Terminals Company became emotional at the Tuesday morning press conference updating the public on the status of a tank fire in the La Porte area.
“Do you want to apologize?” one reporter asked. “Do you want to talk to these people who have been living under this cloud now for three days?”
“Of course ITC is very sorry that this unfortunate event – this isn’t an event we wanted or planned,” Alice Richardson responded. “Many of my employees work in the City of Deer Park. They live in Deer Park. They’re out there fighting this fire the best they can. They’re residents. I could guess probably 30 percent live in Deer Park and La Porte. So of course ITC would apologize to any of them.”
It’s currently unclear how long it will take for the fire to burn out. On Monday the company had hoped it would be put out in about two days.
As of the 10 a.m. update Tuesday there were five chemical tanks on fire. Three others had burnt out and collapsed, the company stated.
ITC says two fire boat pumps malfunctioned Monday night causing a loss of water pressure to fight the fire from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. Monday. The setback allowed the fire to intensify overnight.
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