Firefighters at Houston Chemical Disaster Scrambled for Foam
- Special material is required to extinguish industrial blazes
- ITC had ‘an incredible amount of difficulty’: county official
Firefighters battle a fire at the Intercontinental Terminal Co. storage tank park in Deer Park, Texas on March 18, 2019.
Photographer: David J. Phillip/AP Photo
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Firefighters confronted with the worst Gulf Coast industrial disaster in 14 years had to call on outside sources to augment their supply of the special foam required to extinguish chemical blazes.
Intercontinental Terminal Co. confirmed it appealed to other companies for foam during the fire that erupted on March 17 and ravaged its chemical storage complex in Houston’s eastern suburbs for four days. Almost two weeks after the calamity began, local officials are questioning whether ITC had the proper equipment and personnel in place to handle such an event.