Massive west Houston explosion claims two lives, devastates Gessner-area neighborhoods

An explosion at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing rocked northwest Houston early morning Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Two people have been reported dead by officials. An explosion at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing rocked northwest Houston early morning Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Two people have been reported dead by officials. Photo: Godofredo A. Vásquez, Staff Photographer/Houston Chronicle Photo: Godofredo A. Vásquez, Staff Photographer/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 84 Caption Close Massive west Houston explosion claims two lives, devastates Gessner-area neighborhoods 1 / 84 Back to Gallery

The explosion that ripped across Houston at 4:24 a.m. Friday killed two workers at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing before radiating outward and smashing into nearby homes and businesses. It knocked houses off foundations, blew doors off frames, shattered windows, cracked sheetrock and jerked residents awake as far as 14 miles away.

Firefighters and police officers who arrived at the Spring Branch-area neighborhood found debris scattered across an area more than half a mile wide and a community reeling.

Authorities were still investigating the cause of the blast. Police Chief Art Acevedo said neither terrorism nor arson is suspected at the family-owned machining company, which makes and services parts for everything from the oil and gas to aerospace industries.

Late Friday police identified the two victims of the explosion as Frank Flores and Gerado Carasquillo.

The explosion damaged some 200 homes and businesses. Police blocked off nearby streets, bordering a mile-long “hot zone” on Genard and Clay roads to the north and south and Gessner Road and Steffani Lane to the east and west.

“This is a very powerful blast,” Acevedo said, at one of several news conferences authorities held throughout the day.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS: What we know about Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, the company at center of Houston explosion

A hazardous materials team responded, and the Red Cross set up a shelter at a church a few blocks west of the site. Arson investigators and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also joined the investigation.

Firefighters took one person to the hospital, Fire Chief Sam Peña said, and spent hours working to shut off propylene leaking inside the warehouse. Later in the day, HFD officials said an additional 18 people had “self-reported” to local emergency rooms because of problems breathing, cuts, or other injuries.

The shockwave devastated the manufacturing warehouse. It crumbled metal siding like aluminum foil.

A velocity seismograph, 20 miles away in Hockley, recorded what looked like an earthquake that began at 4:24 a.m. and lasted 10 seconds, said Alexandros Savvaidis, manager of the Texas Seismological Network. Despite the shaking, the blast did not register as an earthquake on the U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake monitors.

It did also show up in meteorological data that monitors disturbances in the air. National Weather Service meteorologist Kent Prochazka said NWS equipment registered a cloud of debris and smoke that measured about a nautical mile in diameter.

At the site of the blast, neighbors in nearby homes woke to find doors torn from their hinges; cracked sheetrock tumbling off walls; ceiling fans, screens and blinds ripped from their fastenings.

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When Alondra Maldonado heard the boom, she thought the neighborhood had been hit with a bomb.

Like many others, she’d been fast asleep when the blast hit. She ran into her parents’ room, “freaking out.”

“It’s scary, I was shook because I literally always walk through there,” she said. “And my sister, she works in the mornings, so sometimes she walks through there to get to the Metro (bus stop). I imagined her walking and something happened to her. But thank God she didn’t work today.”

Acevedo said investigators would need several days — perhaps as many as five — to pore over the blast site. He asked residents to look out for debris, which could include human remains. He warned would-be thieves that if they tried to take advantage of the situation they would be prosecuted harshly.

“Do not get caught looting,” he said. “It will not be a slap on the wrist.”

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality officials said they were aware of the incident and had sent staff to the area to help conduct air monitoring.

Throughout the day, arson investigators and other first responders picked through the rubble at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing. The company was founded 60 years ago by James Watson, who died in 2014. It is now owned and headed by his son, John M. Watson. The chief operating officer is John Watson’s brother-in-law, Robert “Bob” White. Company officials have not yet responded to requests for comment.

The company started small in 1960 and has grown to employ more than 100 people. In 2002, Watson opened the adjacent Watson Valve Services. The company manufactures and services valve and pump components, specializing in large parts, hard metals and exotic alloys.

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Records show Watson Grinding and Manufacturing ran afoul of federal regulators in 2013, when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the company about $8,000 for violations related to the control of hazardous energy and wiring problems. It was inspected again in 2015, and no violations were found.

Across the neighborhood surrounding the warehouse, local business owners and residents spent the day taking stock of the blast.

“There’s multiple commercial buildings damaged, multiple homes damaged. We’ve got insulation blown half a mile from the explosion site,” said Scott Huckabee, a volunteer firefighter from the Lake Livingston area who arrived near the site around 7:20 a.m.

Justin Travis, the supply chain manager for a fastener manufacturer on Clay Road, was waiting for an inspector to arrive at the company’s warehouse, a five-minute walk from the explosion site.

The disaster wreaked havoc on the facility. Full panels of insulation had fallen from the ceiling tiles, skylights were broken out, and the warehouse’s giant metal doors were hanging on by cables.

“We’re going to have inspectors here to see if it’s even safe to work because who knows what condition the roof is in,” Travis said.

The explosion forced the closure of two Cy-Fair ISD schools, Bane Elementary School and Dean Middle School. Spring Branch ISD remained open, but kept students inside due to air quality concerns.

Several residents filed lawsuits Friday against the manufacturing company, along with temporary restraining orders to preserve evidence.

“This is not the first time Houston has seen massive explosions nor is it the first time that widespread areas of Houston and surrounding areas have suffered from the effects of such a massive explosion,” attorney Robert Kwok said in a lawsuit filed on behalf of multiple families whose homes were damaged.

‘I WAS SHOOK’: Residents recall hearing massive warehouse explosion in west Houston, only on HoustonChronicle.com

The incident is the latest to hit a Houston-area company in recent years. In 2014, a chemical leak at a now-shuttered DuPont chemical plant in La Porte killed four people. A massive four-alarm chemical fire damaged neighborhoods in Spring Branch in 2016. Friday’s explosion followed at least five major chemical incidents in Southeast Texas last year.

A 2016 Houston Chronicle investigation found there’s a major chemical incident every six weeks in the Houston area.

In the hours after the blast, environmental watchdogs excoriated “another chemical explosion” that had claimed more lives in the Houston area, and called for greater government oversight to protect workers and residents living and working near industrial plants.

“It is saddening and infuriating to see more people die because of another chemical explosion,” said Elena Craft, with the Environmental Defense Fund. “These deadly tragedies cannot be the new normal in a city and region where industrial threats abound. ... Enough is enough.”

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Staff writers Gabrielle Banks, Jordan Blum, Matt Dempsey, Erin Douglas, Olivia Tallet, Perla Trevizo and Shelby Webb contributed to this story.