HOUSTON (AP) -- State and federal environmental officials said they would continue to monitor the scene of a chemical plant explosion that shattered windows in nearby homes and sent massive plumes of smoke into the sky.
Houston fire officials told the Houston Chronicle for its Saturday editions that they didn't expect the blaze to have any lingering effects on the city's air quality.
The explosion happened shortly before 6 p.m. CST Friday at Marcus Oil & Chemical and was heard as far away as Alvin, 24 miles southeast of Houston.
Two of the more than 150 firefighters who responded to the fire suffered minor injuries, but no serious injuries were reported, said Tommy Dowdy, a district chief with the Houston Fire Department.
In addition, five people at a church across the street from the plant were hospitalized for minor injuries, Dowdy said.
The cause of the blast remains under investigation. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board was sending a team to the site for a preliminary investigation.
``I have no knowledge of what triggered it,'' Dowdy said. ``We don't believe it is suspicious.''
Dowdy said the fire was believed to have started near storage tanks on the grounds, but he said that the fire there had been put out by late evening. He said that he did not know what had been in those tanks.
The plant makes polyethylene waxes used in paint and printing ink.
``We were working and we heard something explode,'' plant worker Miguel Trejo said. ``We don't know what exactly happened. We heard the noise and the fire department came in and sent us all out.''
Dowdy said firefighters were trying to limit the amount of water they poured on the fire to prevent any runoff from the plant, a seven-acre facility located in a neighborhood of single-family homes, apartments and industrial plants.
Lenny Ogle, manager of a Shell station half a mile away, said the initial explosion shot flames about 75 feet in the air. ``It was a ball of fire straight up in the air,'' he said.
Houston Fire Department District Chief Phil Boriskie said that the hazardous materials team was conducting an evaluation. He said that there were no reports of chemical exposure.
Danny Perez, who works for the Precinct 6 constable's office, was playing a video game at his home in Pearland when the explosion occurred.
``I was playing Grand Theft Auto, blowing up people, and all of a sudden, boom,'' he said. ``It shook my house.
