Cause of steel mill fire under investigation

Business as usual at the mill

SEGUIN, Texas – A day after the fire started, it was completely out at the CMC Steel Mill and it was back to business, but only after a long day for firefighters and residents.

The fire started in one of the piles of metal, mostly vehicles, just before 7 a.m. Thursday. It took firefighters 15 hours to put it out.

"The steel itself is not what our problem was that was causing the fire, it's all the other materials that were mixed in there as well," said Dave Padula, Guadalupe County Fire Marshall. "It looks like there was possibly a vehicle that still had some gas in the tank when they dropped it into the pile, there was an eruption of that. More than likely a spark off the metal is what caused that."

A company spokeswoman told KSAT-12 that they are investigating the exact cause, which will take several weeks.

Although a warning went out to residents in the path of the smoke to stay inside, it still had an effect on some.

"It burns your eyes, sticks in you throat, coughing and stuff like that," said Jim Koenig, general manager of McQueeney Mill, a feed store just yards from the mill.

Koenig lives just one mile from CMC and said he knew it was big on his way to work.

"The heavy stuff was coming across the road," Koenig said.

After that 15 hour fight, the fire marshal returned to the mill to double check the scene.

"Everything is out, not even any steam coming off the pile. Actually processing material today, so they are up and operational," Padula said.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Friday it did not detect any air pollutions at levels of immediate concern during the fire.

The agency also said it has not documented any impact to areas around the fire from the water runoff.

As far as their safety record, KSAT-12 looked further into CMC's Texas record with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, we found their last full inspection was more than 2 years ago.

In 2012, the plant had air emissions totaling 15,385 pounds.

TECQ said CMC Steel has had three fines over three years, totaling more than $16,000.


About the Author:

David Sears, a native San Antonian, has been at KSAT for more than 20 years.