The report has not been published yet, so there are still questions to be answered.
The driver who caused a massive pipeline explosion and fire in Deer Park last fall died by suicide, according to the Harris County medical examiner’s office.
Jonathan McEvoy Sr., who was driving the white Lexus SUV that veered out of a Walmart parking lot before crashing through a chain-link fence and into the above-ground pipeline on Sept. 16, died from “blunt traumatic and thermal injuries” and the manner of death was “suicide,” according to an online summary of the death case on the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences website.
The Sept. 16 crash caused the natural gas liquids pipeline to explode and shoot flames skyward for nearly four days. Hundreds of homes and businesses in Deer Park and LaPorte were evacuated and the intense heat burned and melted overhead power lines as well as some nearby homes and cars.
It’s unclear what evidence led medical examiners to rule McEvoy’s death a suicide. Officials with the institute were not immediately available for comment. The case summary was updated late Tuesday to say the medical examiner’s report has been completed.
The Deer Park Police Department, which has had an ongoing criminal investigation into the crash, declined to comment. “We are still waiting on the ME’s final report before commenting further,” Lt. Chris Brown, the department’s spokesman, said Tuesday.
Members of McEvoy’s family, who were not immediately available for comment, previously said the man had suffered in recent years from occasional seizures and that they believed he likely suffered a seizure before the crash.
See here and here for the background. I assume we’ll learn more soon enough, so let’s not speculate ahead of the evidence. I’ll just say again that we need to take a closer look at where these pipelines are and do a more thorough assessment of the risk of vehicle crashes and fires that may result from them. It would be very nice to minimize the chances of a repeat of this one. The Chron and Houston Public Media have more.