A barge carrying around 1 million gallons of a petroleum product burst into flames after a collision involving six vessels in a shipping channel near Houston early Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard told NBC News.
There were no immediate reports of any spills or injuries following the incident, which happened in the Bolivar Peninsula section of the Intracoastal Waterway, according to Petty Officer Andy Kendrick.
The fire was extinguished after more than four hours at around 5:25 a.m. (6:25 a.m. ET), Kendrick said.
The collision happened as two tugboats were each pushing a pair of barges down the waterway, nearly 50 miles from Houston. One tug lost power and caused the vessels to collide, sparking a "rupture" aboard one of the barges and a subsequent fire, Kendrick added.
The barge was carrying the petroleum product Naphtha.
