Baytown fire: Process upset due to power loss causes large plume of black smoke, flames

BAYTOWN, Texas - A large plume of black smoke in Baytown caused concern for some on Thursday evening. 

Baytown incident: Smoke, flames said to be due to flaring

Officials with the Baytown Fire Department said they had two fire engines respond to North Highway 146 at Old Needlepoint Road to large flames coming from the facility there. 

The facility owned by Arcanum Infrastructure, LLC, had a process upset due to a power loss at the facility. 

Photo from the scene earlier on Thursday evening. 

Officials stated backup power did not activate, which forced the plant to flare. 

No injuries were reported as a result of the flaring. 

Facility officials said all is secure at this time. 

What they're saying:

"Arcanum Infrastructure, LLC (The Company) has announced that a brief ground flaring event involving its Raven Butane-1 facility in Baytown, TX occurred at approximately 6:45 PM Central Time today. Due to a power failure, ground flaring at the facility occurred resulting in visible black smoke from the facility. It is important to remember that this flaring is a controlled, safety driven event and done according to regulatory requirements and best practices. At no time was there any fire, damage to the facility or the release of any dangerous substance from the facility. The situation is under control and our team is fully engaged in correcting the issue. There is no damage or impact to local water or soil to report. The company’s absolute priority is to always protect the safety of our team, the public and the environment, and our Baytown operations have a long record of safe operations."