Baytown fire: 'Process upset' at facility sends large plume of black smoke into the air
BAYTOWN, Texas - A huge plume of black smoke could be seen for miles following a "process upset" at a facility in Baytown on Wednesday evening.
What we know:
According to authorities, a "a process upset" incident occurred at Raven Butene-1, located on East Freeway.
Flames, flaring, and smoke could be seen.
FULL VIDEO: Baytown facility sends plumes of black smoke into the air
A "process upset" at a Baytown facility sent huge plumes of black smoke into the air on Wednesday evening. No injuries have been reported.
As of 7 p.m., the visible black smoke and flames from the ground could no longer be seen.
What they're saying:
FOX 26 received a statement about what happened at the facility. We're told, "What it looks like happened was a brief flaring event that was caused by a power outage at the facility. It was temporary and has stopped; there was and is no safety issue, or any kind of injuries or damage involved."
What is Raven Butene-1?
The facility is owned by Arcanum Infrastructure, LLC. The Raven Ethelyne to Butene-1 Conversion Facility is designed for dedicated on-purpose Butene-1 production from the processing of ethylene to meet anticipated growth in the polyethylene and associated markets. The facility is co-located with an existing operation in Baytown, TX to supply Butene-1 from the collated ethylene facility via utilization of Alphabutol technology.
The company's website stated Phoenix Power Group provided construction completion, commissioning and start-up support services to NorthStar Energy Services on the EPC of a 100,000 tonne-per-year on-purpose Ethylene-to-Butene-1 processing facility located in Baytown, Texas. The scope of the team consisted of the design, engineering, procurement, installation, construction, testing and commissioning support of the project on a turnkey basis.
The company's website stated Phoenix supported the completion and start-up of the project by coordinating the overall project schedule to support the mechanical completion of the facility and managed the execution coordination of the Startup Team and construction. Phoenix also assisted the Owner in the establishment and implementation of an operator training program and the development of the start-up and performance test plan.
Previous history
This isn't the first time the facility has had a "process upset."
Photo from the scene in 2025.
Back on May 1, 2025, the facility also had a "process upset" due to a power failure that resulted in ground flaring at the facility resulting in visible black smoke from the facility.
Also, on June 24, 2025, the facility had a chemical fire break out underneath a hopper at the location. Earlier that same day in June, fire crews responded to a chemical burn injury at the same facility. Following an investigation by the Baytown Fire Marshal’s Office, it was determined that the fire was caused by a chemical reaction involving material left behind during the event that resulted in the earlier burn injury.
The Source: Information from Raven Butane-1.