The fire shooting up from the underground natural gas storage cavern east of Houston once soared as high as 1,000 feet, but diminished to about 300 feet Monday, authorities said.
Authorities have revised the number of evacuees from one family to 30. All live within a mile of Duke Energy's Moss Bluff storage facility in Liberty County.
Duke Energy spokeswoman Frances Jeter said the exact count of evacuees housed at area hotels is still being calculated. She said residents who lived outside the one-mile radius and felt threatened by the fire were also provided lodging.
``We don't know when residents will be allowed to go home. We tell them to be prepared to stay in motels until the end of the week,'' Jeter told the Houston Chronicle for its Tuesday editions.
By late Monday, workers completed laying pipeline the length of three football fields to the sinkholes that will supply water to cool the site. A metal heat shield had been fabricated to protect Boots and Coots workers when they approach the inferno to cap it.
Duke Energy officials wouldn't say when efforts to cap the well would begin.
On Thursday, natural gas from the underground storage cavern exploded. A second eruption occurred Friday when intense heat and pressure collapsed the valves that capped the initial cavern that caught fire.
