1 Killed, Others Hurt in Texas Chemical Plant Explosion

One person was killed and at least two were injured in an explosion and fire Tuesday morning at the KMCO LLC chemical plant in Crosby, TX, local emergency response agencies and local news reports said. Officials shut down a roadway near the plant and ordered homes, schools, and businesses within a mile of the facility to shelter in place. 

The blast occurred in a warehouse at the Ramsey Road plant at about 11:45 a.m., coverage by KHOU said. People living in Houston and Kingwood told the television news station that they felt the explosion. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a social media post from the scene that he heard “a few pops” and that the air was moving in a southwestern direction. 

Reports said two helicopters were used to transport the victims to area hospitals. No information was available on the identity of the deceased person, or the circumstances of their death. 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) tweeted that emergency response personnel were sent to the scene to carry out an assessment of the situation. Officials from the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office also responded to the scene. 

KMCO offers custom specialty chemical processing and toll processing services. The Crosby plant features capabilities for multiple reactions and batch and continuous distillation, according to the firm’s website. More than 900 million lb/yr of toll manufacturing products are produced at the site.

Tuesday’s explosion and fire comes just weeks after another massive chemical plant fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) facility in Deer Park, TX that took days to put out. 

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