Tank fire leads to shelter-in-place in Hackberry

(Editor’s Note—The Shelter-in-Place was lifted at approximately 4:15 p.m Sunday, Apr. 16.)

A Shelter-in-Place was issued for residents of Hackberry due to the Hackberry Crude Oil Tank Fire on Saturday, Apr. 15. During the weather event, two Petroleum Crude Oil tanks located near Sutton Circle were ignited by lightning as the storm passed through the area.

As a precaution, all residents and businesses located within a mile south of the Sutton Circle were asked to stay indoors until further notice due to the direction of the smoke plume.

Fire crews worked to extinguish the fire.

Agencies involved with the operations were: Hackberry Vol. Fire Dept., Carlyss Fire Dept., Houston River Fire Dept., Ward 6 Fire Protection Dist. #1, Cameron Parish Ambulance District, Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality, and Louisiana State Police Emergency Services Unit.

Most fire departments train on these type of fires at the Calcasieu Emergency Response Training Center which allows the departments to work together on incidents involving multiple agencies to resolve the issue with safety of responders and the community as the primary goal of the operation.