HOUSTON – A fire in Spring Branch that has been burning for nearly a week now could burn for several more weeks if left alone. Fire officials said that likely won’t happen because crews are hard at work keeping it contained.
On Thursday, a crowd of concerned people who live in the area got the chance to ask the Houston fire chief and city officials questions at a town hall meeting held at a nearby Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) center.
Officials with the Houston Health Department said despite a few abnormal readings here and there, the overall air quality right now is within normal standards.
“You can tell that’s our gate; we are in a gated community, and that’s right opposite us,” said Rifhat Wahid while showing a picture of flames billowing on the other side of her gate.
Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña said the fire has been burning since his crews first responded to it on Saturday around 5:45 p.m.
He said his crews found four to five acres burning up to 30 feet high in some places.
“Breathing issues become increased during the evening around 6 p.m. In the evening, when the flames are pretty high, that’s when you’re finding that you’re getting the tickle in your throat,” Wahid said.
Pena said the exact cause of the fire is under investigation, but that it was not a permitted burn. He said it started as a large pile of green waste that the property owner, In Town Homes, had been gathering to clear from the land. The pile that caught fire included tree branches and stumps, some still on the ground. Pena said the pile had been sitting there for at least a year, so long it created highly flammable mulch material. The byproduct of its burning is blankets of ash.
“I just took my car today, and it was newly painted last week. I had to take it in to get the ash off it, and it does affect your paint quality,” another resident said.
As far as what’s being done to put the fire out, with the unstable ground being part of a construction site that can’t support fire engines and not enough airspace to attack the blaze from above, Pena said much of the work is being handled by construction crews with excavators.
“They’re about two-thirds of the way through the extinguishing effort. They’re pulling material out, they’re turning it over, they’re wetting it down, and they’re carrying it away,” Pena said.
Despite complaints heard at the town hall meeting, Pena said first responders have not seen a spike in calls for troubled breathing or issues related to air quality, however, officials wouldn’t comment on potential long-term effects.
City officials are urging everyone to sign up for Alert Houston on their phones so should there ever be an alert that needs to be sent out, the city can geotag your phone and let you know what’s happening as it’s unfolding.