On January 24, 2020, a building at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing in northwest

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, exploded at 4:24 a.m. Debris was scattered as far as , and approximately 200 nearby houses and businesses were damaged. Officials asked local residents to search for debris and body parts to assist with an investigation into the explosion's cause. An absence of zoning ordinances separating industrial areas from residences is known to prevail in the vicinity of the explosion. Two deaths were reported on the morning of the incident. Both men were employees of Watson Grinding and Manufacturing. A third man, whose home was impacted by debris from the explosion, died from his injuries on February 5. Eighteen people "self reported" to emergency rooms for minor injuries. Forty-eight people sought shelter from

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

, and two schools in the vicinity were closed for the day. Some homes near the facility were blasted off their foundations, and some had collapsed ceilings, shattered windows, and bent garage doors. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives personnel assisted the Houston Fire and

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

Departments with the investigation. Multiple lawsuits have already been filed. Watson Grinding and Manufacturing filed for bankruptcy in February 2020.

Cause

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released its final investigation report on June 29, 2023. According to the CSB "On the day prior to the incident, January 23, 2020, the coating booth operators shut down the individual booths following a normal workday, and the Coating Supervisor closed and locked the coating building. On this day, the Coating Supervisor did not close either of the two manual shutoff valves located at the propylene storage tank, which should have isolated the propylene storage tank from the piping that supplied propylene vapor to the coating building."

References

2020 disasters in the United States 2020 in Texas 2020 industrial disasters Explosions in 2020 Explosions in the United States Industrial accidents and incidents in the United States January 2020 events in the United States {{Houston-stub

Cause

See also

References