Video shows moment massive pipeline fire started in Houston

DEER PARK, Texas (KHOU) — The moment an SUV crashed into a gas pipeline in Texas and set off a massive fireball was caught on camera.

It happened on Monday.

“It’s definitely something that might raise a few eyebrows,” Boone said.

Boone is a dispatcher with Total Marine Transportation, based in Greens Point.

On Monday, one of Boone’s drivers was making a routine stop at a business in La Porte, across from Walmart.

The transport van parked in front of the business and the driver got inside, followed by the passenger who can be seen here in the reflection of the window in the video.

The van’s cameras continue to roll.

It’s 9:45

“Once the red truck passes, you’ll see the car speeding toward the pipeline,” Boone noted.

Then the flames shot hundreds of meters into the air.

A massive pipeline fire burns near Spencer Highway and Summerton on Monday, September 16, 2024, in... — A massive pipeline fire rages near Spencer Highway and Summerton on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in La Porte, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)(AP)

Authorities said the white vehicle first drove through a fence and then struck the overhead valve of the liquefied natural gas pipeline.

“The speed was very high. I wouldn’t say it was deliberate, but it certainly was. I don’t know if there’s any way to guess, but it looked like they were going 65 or 70 mph,” Boone said.

Boone’s driver and passenger ran out of the building after hearing the explosion and tried to get into the van, but were unable to.

“She said it was just too hot,” Boone said. “The heat was too intense, so she took the crew member with her and they ran away from the explosion.”

The van was abandoned in front of the fire.

“When we were finally able to recover the vehicle later yesterday, a lot of the plastic had been damaged by the heat,” Boone said Tuesday.

The exterior of the van was covered in soot.

Inside, the plastic ceiling vents had melted, giving a sense of the heat of the fire even from a distance.

What you don’t see in the video is someone getting out of the vehicle that hit the valve.

The vehicle remains at the scene and is burning. Neither the city of Deer Park nor police have released information on the identity of the person driving the white SUV or whether the driver survived.