Crews work to suppress gas well fire

UPDATE — Emergency management personnel from several collaborating agencies remain on-site to address the blowout of a natural gas well in Etoile. A Houston crew has arrived at the natural gas well fire and has taken over suppressing efforts.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is continuing to monitor air quality conditions. According to our news partner KETK, Nacogdoches County officials said three residences on County Road 5061 remain evacuated while nearby residents and motorists are asked to avoid traveling in the FM 226 area.

NACOGDOCHES (AP) — An explosion at a Texas natural gas or oil well site set off a large fire that was seen for miles and led to some evacuations, but caused no injuries, authorities said Tuesday. The Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office received numerous calls late Monday of a loud explosion in Etoile in eastern Texas, a small, rural community about 140 miles northeast of Houston.

The sheriff’s office said the explosion happened at an oil well site. The city of Nacogdoches, about 20 miles away, described it as a natural gas well, based on information it received from the Texas Department of Public Safety, city spokesperson Kevin Meyer said Tuesday.

Residents were advised to evacuate as a precaution and others were asked to shelter in place. It wasn’t immediately known how many residents were affected. The fire was still burning early Tuesday, but it was not spreading and was being monitored, Meyer said.

“There is currently no danger to local residents from the fire, and air quality in the area is being monitored as well,” Meyer said in a news release.