HOUSTON (AP) – Local and federal investigators say a fire at a Houston-area petrochemical storage facility that burned for days in March was accidental and caused by equipment failure at a storage tank.
The report by the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concludes the failure took place within a piece of equipment that holds an electric motor and a pump next to the tank.
The report says forensic testing would need to be done to determine what caused the equipment to fail. Intercontinental Terminals Company, which owns the facility, says it continues to work to understand the fire’s cause.
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