As a towering plume of black smoke billowed a mile above Houston for a third day, local officials said they don't know how long the petrochemical blaze that sent orange fireballs into the sky will continue.
Five tanks holding gasoline ingredients were still afire about 20 miles (32 km) east of downtown Houston on Tuesday and three have burned out, according to facility owner Intercontinental Terminals Co. However, previous expectations that the conflagration would exhaust itself by the middle of the week no longer hold, officials said.
The fire that began early Sunday in an industrial suburb called Deer Park intensified overnight after a dip in water pressure interfered with firefighting efforts and two more tanks erupted in flame. The pressure drop has been rectified and additional help in fighting the fire was summoned.