The Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office (Case Number 1903-00046) and The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (Case Number 782035-19-0029) have issued their FINAL REPORT on the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) Tank Farm Fire in La Porte on March 17, 2019.
It was observed what appeared to be studs laying in the pump housing. It appeared to be three of the four studs that would be used to hold the seal face to the flange using nuts and washers. The nuts were not located as there was a blanket of firefighting foam on the ground surrounding the manifold. The nuts could also have been mixed in to the debris that was on the concrete pad of the manifold. In any case, they were not located visually by this entry team. It was also observed that the seal pot was dislodged and was sitting at approximately a 45º angle. It was also observed that the metal coolant lines that were attached to the seal pot had wrapped around the seal pot. A final hypothesis of mechanical failure within the manifold of the tank was agreed upon by Investigators.
The fire that occurred at the Intercontinental Terminals Company on March 17, 2019 was the result of a failure within the manifold power frame of Tank 80-8. The failure within the power frame resulted in an uncontained release of Naphtha enriched with Butane. Foul play and malicious intent along with other unintentional causes were ruled out by investigators. Investigators were unable to rule out various other failure scenarios within the seal pot and coolant assembly, along with failures involving the electric motor of the power frame or the potential ignition of the free flowing, ungrounded ignitable liquid. Based upon the interviews of the employees, witnesses and the field examination the nature of this fire is classified as Accidental, per the description in NFPA 921.