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 a

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