BAYTOWN, Texas – Lightning struck a crude oil tank, causing an explosion in Baytown Wednesday afternoon, according to the U. S. Coast Guard.
The incident happened at Hollimon Oil Corp. in the 100 block of Evergreen Road and Alexander shortly after 1 p.m.
The city of Baytown says that two tanks containing approximately 1,400 barrels of crude oil and three tanks containing brine water were destroyed.
Thick, black smoke could be seen in the sky from the Fred Hartman Bridge, which remains open.
Baytown Fire Marshal Bernard Olive says there were workers in the field at the time of the lightning strike, but they were not hurt.
"Of course it was such a dramatic explosion they quickly called 911," he said.
The oil burned so quickly that Olive says crews only needed fire extinguishers to contain what remained of the fire. It was out in about 10 minutes he said.
"We went ahead and laid lines, but we didn't want to put water on it because you didn't want oil floating on the water and getting into the bay," Olive said.
Business 146 and a portion of Lee Drive were closed during the fire, however they have reopened. Evergreen Road remains closed.
So far there have been no reports of injuries.
Schools in the area are continuing as normal.
Hollimon Corp. is a drilling company, with headquarters in San Antonio, according to the company's website. Linc Energy is the tank operator and they are working to mitigate any environmental impact.