Fire breaks out at Exxon plant in Baytown

  BAYTOWN, TX (KTRK) -- Firefigthers extinguished a blaze that broke out Wednesday afternoon at the ExxonMobil plant in Baytown.

Baytown police say officials at the plant at 4500 Bayway Drive called to inform them of the blaze and asked the city to put ambulances on standby, which is standard protocol.

SkyEye 13 HD captured flames coming out of a column at the plant. Baytown police say what caught fire appears to be a diesel product that does not pose any environmental hazard and no shelters in place will be imposed.

Officials with ExxonMobil say no one was injured, but an investigation into how the blaze started is ongoing.

In a prepared statement, ExxonMobil Spokeswoman Rachael Moore said the company's emergency response teams were brought in to get the incident under control.

"As a precaution, our Industrial Hygiene staff is doing air quality monitoring around the complex and in the community," Moore said. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to the community and will update you when we have additional information."

Stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for the latest on this story.

And if you have photos or video of the fire, email it to news@abc13.com. But please don't put yourself in harm's way to get the shot.

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Exxon Mobil considering Baytown expansion

  BAYTOWN, TX -- Exxon is considering a multi-billion-dollar expansion of its giant petrochemical complex east of Houston.

The energy company has filed applications with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for permits to build an ethane cracker at its Baytown complex and two high performance polyethylene lines at its nearby plastics plant in Mont Belvieu.

Exxon says the review and approval process from government regulators should take about a year. It would then decide whether to move forward with the project. The company estimated Friday that the expansion could involve about 10,000 construction jobs, then 350 permanent jobs once the new facilities would be up and running in 2016.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Baytown complex already is the largest in the nation.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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