A freak car accident that turned into a natural gas pipeline explosion on September 16 burned through several homes in Deer Park, Texas, and “melted” several outbuildings.
When Steve and Diane Hutto returned to their home after evacuating during the fire they found devastation. Their house was the closest to the pipeline, and the fire, the heat, and then the water used by firefighters to put out the blaze left them with nearly nothing.
Diane Hutto said what remained of the house smelled like mildew, and the property was still radiating heat from the recent fire. Their backyard shed, probably made of synthetic materials, actually melted. “I thought it was a nuclear bomb,” Diane told local media, saying she fell out of her chair when the blast hit and her dogs were scrambling to get out of the house.
The explosion and fire were sparked by a car whose driver hit the above-ground pipeline after plowing through the fence surrounding the structure. This occurred about about 10 a.m. The pipeline immediately exploded sending flames hundreds of feet into the sky.
Witness Hank Willaims said he watched the car fly 10 feet into the air after it hit the pipe.
The blaze was so intense in the area that heat could still be felt just by walking through the devastation late this week. Investigators had to leave the car alone until Thursday, September 19, because it was simply too hot to approach. But once they did, cops found at least one person dead inside. The Harris County Medical Examiner said they were able to “remove human remains,” but it is not clear if there was one body or more inside the car. There are no details yet on who the driver was, or what may have caused the crash, but there is an ongoing criminal investigation.
Though no one outside the car died, four people were wounded, including one firefighter. All are expected to survive.
Steve Hutto did find one thing in the remains of his house, the only thing he really cared about: photos of his dead son.
