DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) — A day and a half have passed since the fire from the Deer Park pipeline explosion started to burn after police said an SUV crashed into a valve.
As of Tuesday evening, local and county officials have yet to release information about the driver.
As another day of the fire continued, families were still out of their homes, evacuations were still in place, and, on Tuesday evening, many questions remained unanswered.
ABC13 has not seen or heard from anyone in person at Energy Transfer, the pipeline’s owners.
On Monday, the company let three hours pass before saying what had happened and confirming it was their pipeline.
13 INVESTIGATES: Energy Transfer waits hours before providing statement on pipeline fire
ABC13 sent countless emails with questions and went to the hotel where officials were staged, trying to ask them to speak with us, but so far, nothing. Energy Transfer ignored ABC13’s requests for an interview.
“Some of the plastic in my car was already melted within seconds of when the fire started,” Marian Rodriguez, an evacuated homeowner from Fast Meadow Drive, said.
More than 24 hours prior, both scared, Rodriguez and her son hurried out of her home. In a rush, she left her wallet and important documents and was unable to grab her son’s medicine, forcing her to find a way to pay for his life-saving medicine out of pocket.
“They should do things fair. Their first priority should be East Meadow Drive,” Rodriguez said of Energy Transfer.
She was one of several homeowners who remained displaced.
SEE MORE: Deer Park pipeline fire’s heat drives neighbors away: ‘We cannot stay here’
The fire started diminishing on its second day as first responders waited for the natural gas product to burn out completely from the pipeline.
On Tuesday, people across the community lodged many questions about who will be held accountable for the disaster and why Energy Transfer has yet to talk.
“Taking one step at a time. Obviously, there’s an investigation that will occur after the fire gets put out, and a lot of the answers will come forward then,” Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said.
Eyewitness News asked the mayor who would be footing the bill for all the costs associated with response and damages.
“From the moment [on Monday], Energy Transfer has stepped up to tend to the needs, and in many cases, they’re subsidizing or paying for all the displaced people to be dealt with currently,” Mayor Mouton said.
What the next few days, weeks, or months could look like for homeowners, like the ones on East Meadow right by the raging flame, is still being determined.
