Fire burns at Marathon plant in Texas City area

TEXAS CITY, TX (KTRK) -- A fire that was burning earlier today at the Marathon Galveston Bay refinery plant sent a large plume of thick, black smoke into the air that was visible for miles.

The fire broke out at around 3:45pm at a pump besides a large tank on the property. Emergency officials said the pump was carrying a gasoline-like substance. Fire officials allowed the fire to burn itself out, though we did notice a few flames around 5pm.

The fire charred the tank and even took part of the roof off.

According to Bruce Clawson with the Texas City Office of Emergency Management, there were no shelter-in-place orders issued as the pump was burning.

At this point, we don't have a cause of the fire and have not heard of any injuries..

This plant is also the site of a deadly explosion almost eight years ago. On March 15, 2005, a vent stack on one of the units ignited. This caused a powerful explosion that killed 15 workers and left hundreds more hurt. BP owned the plant at the time of the explosion. The incident led to safety operation changes at BP and other refineries around the country.

Stay with ABC13 Eyewitness News for the latest on this developing story.
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