US terminal fire in Gulf spreads to toluene tank

HOUSTON (ICIS)–A fire at a terminal on the US Gulf Coast has spread to a toluene tank, bringing the total number of tanks that are burning to eight, the company owning the site said on Monday.

The other tanks on fire contain naphtha and xylene, said Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC). It owns the terminal.

Firefighters are trying to control the fire by spraying foam, Intercontinental said.

The city of Deer Park has told people living near the terminal to stay inside, the company said. Intercontinental has accounted for all personnel and no one was injured.

The fire at the terminal started on Sunday at 10:22 hours Houston time (15:22 hours GMT), Intercontinental said.

By 19:00 hours Houston time on Sunday, the fire spread beyond a naphtha tank to one containing xylene.

By 1:30 hours Houston time on Monday, it had spread to five tanks, Intercontinental said. These tanks contained gasoline blendstocks and base oils used to make machine lubricants.

The terminal has 242 storage tanks that have a total capacity of 13.1m bbl.

The image above shows a fire at the Intercontinental terminal. Photo by Adam Yanelli.