Orange containment boom and white absorbent boom snake in parallel across the Tangipahoa River Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, at Lees Landing as contractors in air boat head into the nearby marina. The landing's marina is next to a now closed public boat launch on the lower end of the river near Joyce Wildlife Management Area. Boom has been stretched on dozens of miles of the river from La. 10 to its mouth, and oily contaminants from the Smitty's Supply Inc. fire started on Aug. 22 have made it close to the wildlife area in southern Tangipahoa.
At first, no one outside of the Quick Way Gas Station in Roseland seemed to notice the fireball that began billowing in the distance from Smitty's Supply.
But as the tower of fire rolled, shifted to black smoke and then back to a roiling fire, a departing pickup slowed to a crawl, newly obtained surveillance video shows. Onlookers later arrived outside of the station an estimated 1,600 feet north of Smitty's, watching the first moments of what would be a multi-day blaze in late August.
The fire destroyed the longstanding lubricants plant and sparked a continuing environmental disaster, first by air and later by water with spilled oily runoff. That runoff may have finally reached Lake Pontchartrain miles to the south, with an oil sheen reported following heavy rain on Oct. 6, though authorities have not yet confirmed it.
The surveillance video was released by State Police in response to a public records request. It is taken from the Quick Way station on U.S. 51 and reveals the first moments of the Smitty's fire on Aug. 22.
It is also forming a key piece of information in a civil accusation that the company failed to notify a key Louisiana State Police hazard hotline within the required hour, according to a State Police report.
The state report also reveals that Smitty's officials told State Police and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigators on Aug. 26 that the fire started in a natural-gas-fired boiler.
The boiler heats thermal fluid used to heat lubricants in Smitty's storage tanks through a closed-loop system, akin to the way a radiator and the fluid running through it cool a car engine.
"Mr. Tate said that there was a flame emitting from the heating portion of the boiler, and the source was natural gas. Mr. Tate said one employee ran to the gas meter near the road to shut it off," the State Police report paraphrased Chad Tate, president of Smitty's, as saying. "Other employees in the area were not able to fight the fire, and it engulfed a nearby storage tank. At this point, the fire quickly spread to other areas of the facility."
Tate's account of where the fire began roughly matches what some employees told Tangipahoa 911 and The Advocate. In one recorded call, an employee reported to 911 that the fire was coming from an area near Cell 1, which he described as being near the blending area.
"Straight through the front gate," the employee added for a 911 dispatcher.
'Fire quickly spread'
Among the many activities at Smitty's, the company's employees blended additives into motor oils to the specifications of a variety of national brands and bottled the product for shipment.
Tate told investigators that the company that built the boiler was Fulton Boiler Works Inc. of Pulaski, New York, and the company that serviced the boiler locally was Brandon Services out of Jackson, Mississippi. Fulton officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. A lawyer for Brandon Services declined to comment Friday.
Troopers concluded the fire began at a boiler fueled by natural gas and that the fire continued even after employees cut the supply of gas.
"The fire spread to nearby storage tanks. Any firefighting attempts by employees (were) not effective as the fire quickly spread to other tanks around the facility," the report found.
The State Police report and collected private surveillance video stem from only one of several investigations into the fire, which wasn't fully extinguished until Sept. 8. Other investigations are being carried out by the Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The Marshal's Office was working Friday on an extensive list of questions about the fire sent by The Advocate earlier this week. OSHA officials didn't speak about their investigation but responded with an automatic email, citing the federal government shutdown. ATF officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The massive fire near Roseland burned at least two fire trucks and sent a large, black plume over a rural corner of the parish, dropping soot on residents and requiring a 1-mile evacuation zone that led to 42 people staying in a parish shelter. The EPA has said soot was reported 15 miles away from Smitty's, while oily material ran off into the Tangipahoa River.
No one was injured in the fire, but the State Police report said seven were treated at a nearby hospital for effects from the incident and later released.
Some residents have criticized Smitty's and state officials for what they have claimed was a lack of preparation for the impacts of a fire at Smitty's and slow actions to stem the release of potentially millions of gallons of petroleum products into surrounding waters. Gov. Jeff Landry has defended the efforts and cleanup.
Millions of gallons stored
The lubricants and plastic bottle plant had millions of gallons of motor oil, lube oil, mineral spirits, chainsaw oil, gasoline, alkylate gas, glycol, urea, antifreeze, phosphoric acid and other chemicals and hydrocarbons, according to a company inventory EPA has shared.
911 recordings separately obtained by The Advocate show Smitty's employees called Tangipahoa Parish's emergency line in the fire's first moments. But state right-to-know laws require facilities like Smitty's to notify the hotline for State Police, which often leads the early response to dangerous industrial fires and chemical releases.
The surveillance video of the fireball emerging from Smitty's demonstrates the fire started at 12:46 p.m., troopers said, but the State Police hotline wasn't called until three hours later.
State troopers issued the violation Sept. 28. Intentional failures to notify the hotline can bring up to a $25,000 penalty, but troopers didn't reach that conclusion, citing Smitty's under a different part of the law and giving Smitty's a warning letter.
Called for comment Friday, a Smitty's spokeswoman provided a letter that Tate sent to State Police.
Dated Thursday, Tate's letter acknowledged Smitty's didn't call troopers within the required hour "as the company attempted to control the incident onsite and ensure the safety of its employees."
Tate noted local fire departments were called first and then all other responding agencies.
"Smitty's Supply would like it noted that our emergency response plan includes notification of the Louisiana State Police immediately at the onset of an event," Tate added.
Smitty's officials didn't immediately respond to the narrative in the State Police report nor dispute 911 callers' description of where the fire seemed to them to have started.