(Reuters) – A pipeline fire broke out in La Porte, Texas, on Monday morning, the city’s Office of Emergency Management said, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses and prompting nearby evacuations.
Videos posted by a local news station showed a massive flame near streets and businesses.
It was not immediately clear who owned the pipeline or what it was carrying.
CenterPoint said the fire was not related to its natural gas operations or equipment. Over 5,000 CenterPoint Energy customers were without power, according to a posting on the company’s website.
“When it is safe to do so, our electric crews will go into the area to assess the damage to our transmission and distribution power lines, poles and equipment and begin restoring service to impacted customers as safely and quickly as possible,” the company said.
A nearby Walmart store was evacuated and closed following the incident. Students attending schools near the scene of the fire were safe and sheltering in place, the La Porte Independent School District said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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