Officials identify driver who crashed into a Houston-area pipeline and sparked a 4-day fire
The driver of a vehicle that crashed into a pipeline valve and sparked a four-day fire that forced the evacuation of nearby neighborhoods in a Houston suburb was a local 51-year-old man, according to police.
Remains found in the SUV following the fire are those of Jonathan McEvoy of Deer Park, according to a statement Monday night from Deer Park Police Lt. Chris Brown.
The cause of McEvoy's death and why the vehicle he was driving went through a fence alongside a Walmart parking lot and struck the above-ground valve remained under investigation, Brown said Tuesday.
"We're still gathering information ... but I don't know that we'll ever have an exact determination" of the cause, Brown said.
Energy Transfer, the Dallas-based company that owns the pipeline, called the crash an accident and preliminary investigations by police and FBI agents found no evidence of a coordinated or terrorist attack.
McEvoy's ex-wife Delma McEvoy told KTRK TV in Houston that he left the family's home the morning of Sept. 16 to go to Walmart and never returned. She said he may have had a seizure because "several months ago, he was having them periodically."
The fire burned for four days as it was allowed to burn itself out, forcing nearby residents to flee the intense heat, which partially melted vehicles and mailboxes.
McEvoy's remains were not recovered until after the fire went out as the SUV remained near the valve.
