SEGUIN, Texas – Firefighters are battling a huge fire at a steel mill in Seguin.
As of noon on Thursday, it covered about an acre at CMC Texas, at 1 Steel Mill Drive on the northwest side of Seguin, north of Interstate 10.
The blaze flared up around 7 a.m. but the cause of the fire is not known.
According to Dan Kinsey, Emergency Management Coordinator for Guadalupe County, a "very large pile" of scrap metal is on fire at the site.
He said the pile is about an acre in size and 30-40 feet deep.
"It's a difficult to fight fire because of the depth of the scrap metal," Kinsey said. "Right now it's an exercise in moving steel and spraying water."
Berms have been built to contain the water and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is on hand monitoring operations and air quality.
According to CMC officials, scrap vehicles are fueling the fire and crews are working to separate scrap piles to get the flames under control.
"They remove the batteries, they empty the tanks, they take the tires off the car to eliminate any materials that could be hazardous," said Kinsey.
However, because the fire is still burning, Kinsey said they don't know exactly what may be burning that might be hazardous.
Residents with respiratory problems in the area, downwind from the fire are urged to stay indoors.
CMC issued the following statement Thursday afternoon:
"CMC's top priority is to finish extinguishing the fire, which is contained and under control. Local fire authorities are estimating that approximately one acre of scrap material has been affected. The cause of today's fire has not yet been determined but a thorough investigation will be conducted once we have the fire extinguished. All employees are safe and no equipment was damaged and no mill operations or customer deliveries have been impacted."
No injuries have been reported, but Seguin and New Braunfels EMS are on the scene.
Kinsey said more than six area fire departments are involved in the effort.