Shelter-in-place lifted after fire at Marathon refinery near Galveston, Texas

A shelter-in-place was issued—and has since been lifted—for a large area of Texas City, near Galveston, following a fire at a refinery plant, according to officials. The fire is said to be under control.

The incident was first reported around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Marathon Texas City Oil Refinery, located at 5th Avenue South and 25th Street South, according to the Texas City Emergency Management Office.

A shelter-in-place was initially issued for an area stretching from Highway 146 to Bay Street, but was later expanded to include 29th Street to Bay Street as a precaution due to smoke settling over the city, Texas City officials said in a post on social media.

The affected zone included most of the city’s residential area, which is home to more than 55,000 people.

In an update at 2:22 p.m., the Texas City social media account announced that the shelter-in-place had been lifted and the all-clear siren had been sounded. “The fire is under control, and we are continuing to conduct air monitoring as a precaution, but no further community action is required,” the statement said.

Marathon said in a statement that there were no reports of injuries and that all personnel at the plant had been accounted for.

Footage from witnesses showed the fire at the refinery, with a large plume of smoke visible across a wide area. The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed.

Texas City, located on Galveston Bay in southeastern Texas, is a major hub for oil refineries and petrochemical plants. It has previously been the site of major industrial incidents.

The city was the site of the 1947 Texas City disaster, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in U.S. history, when a ship carrying ammonium nitrate exploded at the port, triggering a chain reaction of blasts and fires that killed nearly 600 people and injured thousands more.