The explosion that ripped across Houston, Texas at 4:24 a.m. Friday killed two workers at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing before radiating outward and smashing into nearby homes and businesses. It knocked houses off foundations, blew doors off frames, shattered windows, cracked sheetrock and jerked residents awake as far as 14 miles away. Firefighters and police officers who arrived at the Spring Branch-area neighborhood found debris scattered across an area more than half a mile wide and a community reeling.
Authorities were still investigating the cause of the blast. Police Chief Art Acevedo said neither terrorism nor arson is suspected at the family-owned machining company, which makes and services parts for everything from the oil and gas to aerospace industries.
Late Friday police identified the two victims of the explosion as Frank Flores and Gerado Carasquillo.
The explosion damaged some 200 homes and businesses. Police blocked off nearby streets, bordering a mile-long “hot zone” on Genard and Clay roads to the north and south and Gessner Road and Steffani Lane to the east and west.
“This is a very powerful blast,” Acevedo said, at one of several news conferences authorities held throughout the day.
A hazardous materials team responded, and the Red Cross set up a shelter at a church a few blocks west of the site. Arson investigators and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also joined the investigation.
Firefighters took one person to the hospital, Fire Chief Sam Peña said, and spent hours working to shut off propylene leaking inside the warehouse. Later in the day, HFD officials said an additional 18 people had “self-reported” to local emergency rooms because of problems breathing, cuts, or other injuries.
The shockwave devastated the manufacturing warehouse. It crumbled metal siding like aluminum foil.
A velocity seismograph, 20 miles away in Hockley, recorded what looked like an earthquake that began at 4:24 a.m. and lasted 10 seconds, said Alexandros Savvaidis, manager of the Texas Seismological Network. Despite the shaking, the blast did not register as an earthquake on the U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake monitors.
It did also show up in meteorological data that monitors disturbances in the air. National Weather Service meteorologist Kent Prochazka said NWS equipment registered a cloud of debris and smoke that measured about a nautical mile in diameter.
At the site of the blast, neighbors in nearby homes woke to find doors torn from their hinges; cracked sheetrock tumbling off walls; ceiling fans, screens and blinds ripped from their fastenings.
When Alondra Maldonado heard the boom, she thought the neighborhood had been hit with a bomb.
Like many others, she’d been fast asleep when the blast hit. She ran into her parents’ room, “freaking out.”
“It’s scary, I was shook because I literally always walk through there,” she said. “And my sister, she works in the mornings, so sometimes she walks through there to get to the Metro (bus stop). I imagined her walking and something happened to her. But thank God she didn’t work today.”
Acevedo said investigators would need several days — perhaps as many as five — to pore over the blast site. He asked residents to look out for debris, which could include human remains. He warned would-be thieves that if they tried to take advantage of the situation they would be prosecuted harshly.
“Do not get caught looting,” he said. “It will not be a slap on the wrist.”
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality officials said they were aware of the incident and had sent staff to the area to help conduct air monitoring.
Throughout the day, arson investigators and other first responders picked through the rubble at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing. The company was founded 60 years ago by James Watson, who died in 2014. It is now owned and headed by his son, John M. Watson. The chief operating officer is John Watson’s brother-in-law, Robert “Bob” White. Company officials have not yet responded to requests for comment.
The company started small in 1960 and has grown to employ more than 100 people. In 2002, Watson opened the adjacent Watson Valve Services. The company manufactures and services valve and pump components, specializing in large parts, hard metals and exotic alloys.
0 Comments