On the afternoon of March 26, 2019,1 received a call from the Gulf Strike Team, our sister unit in the National Strike Force (NSF), requesting additional members from the Pacific Strike Team to assist with a petrochemical spill in Deer Park, Texas. All I knew at that point was that there had been an explosion at a tank farm and that the Houston Ship Channel had been closed for two days because of chemical products spilling into the waterway. Little did I know that this would be one of the most significant responses of my career. Nine days earlier, a massive fire had erupted in a 50.4-million-gallon petrochemical tank farm at the Intercontinental Terminals Corporation Facility located at the heart of the largest petrochemical port complex, and fourth-largest metropolitan area, in the nation. The fire burned for nearly 65 hours, overwhelming 13 of the farm's 15 tanks, each with an 80,000-barrel-capacity. This caused the collapse of the primary containment and, ultimately, a partial breach of the secondary containment leading to a subsequent release of more than 3 million gallons of petrochemical products into the federally regulated Houston Ship Channel. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston, the first federal entity on the scene, responded immediately, but multiple federal, state, local responsible parties, and contracted oil spill response organizations would combat the fire and subsequent release for 53 days.
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