Dark smoke is plaguing east Texas residents after a fiery explosion erupted at a chemical plant on Wednesday.
The chemical plant is located near Houston in Shepherd, Texas, a city of just over 2,000 people, and while the cause of the explosion is not immediately known, according to officials in San Jacinto County, the facility is a petroleum processing facility.
"At this time, the effects of the chemical in the air are unknown," the Sheriff's Office said on Facebook.
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Local news station KHOU 11 identified the facility as Sound Resource Solutions and has said most traffic has been diverted as diesel and flammable liquids are burning.
Shortly after, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers and the president of Sound Resource Solutions, Geoff Harfield, held a press conference. They said the call for the explosion came just after 8:15 a.m. and revealed one employee suffered minor burns and was being treated at a Houston hospital.
According to the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Office, residents within a one-mile radius are still being asked to avoid the area, shelter in place and told to turn off their HVAC units as evacuations continue to be in progress.
In addition, the office of emergency management said in a statement to the Associated Press that a private school in the area had been evacuated and at least one road— Highway 59—was closed due to the fire.
According to KHOU, 31 children evacuated from the nearby Wildwood Academy private school and moved to the Shepherd Administration building.
Since, the explosion pictures and videos of the damage have made their way to X, formerly Twitter, as they show the dark smoke and flames rising high into the sky.
The Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management shared another image of the plume of smoke, adding that they are providing support to San Jacinto County.
"Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in conjunction with several Montgomery County Fire Departments is on site and providing support to San Jacinto County," the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management wrote on X.
"There is no danger to Montgomery County residents at this time from the fire and smoke in the air. Winds are moving to the north, and again poses no threat to Montgomery County residents," the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management added.
Update 11/8/23 1:39 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
