Fire causes significant damage to aquatic shrimp farming business in La Coste

The cause of the fire is still under investigation

Image shows damage from a fire at the NaturalShrimp facility in LaCoste on July 3, 2022. (Medina County ESD1 FIRE/EMS)

LA COSTE, Texas – An overnight fire caused significant damage to an aquatic farming business in La Coste, according to Medina County firefighters.

It’s the second fire at the Natural Shrimp production facility on CR 583 in the last two years.

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Sunday’s fire started just after 2 a.m. According to Medina County ESD 1, firefighting efforts were delayed due to a lack of fire hydrants in the area. Water had to be brought in by water tender trucks.

Fire crews from Medina County ESDs, Devine, Bexar County ESD 5, Natalia, and Lytle Volunteer Fire Departments battled the flames. Crews were on the scene for several hours.

According to an online press release, the aquatic farming facility was rebuilt in 2020 after a natural gas leak sparked an explosion and fire in March of that year destroyed the plant.

The cause of Sunday morning’s fire has not been determined, but Medina County firefighters said this fire was not natural-gas related, like the fire in 2020.

Video and photos posted by the company online show the warehouse contained large saltwater tanks where the company farmed Pacific white shrimp.

Photos on the company's website show the outside and inside of the NaturalShrimp shrimp farming facility in LaCoste. (NaturalShrimp, Inc.)

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About the Author:

Julie Moreno has worked in local television news for more than 25 years. She came to KSAT as a news producer in 2000. After producing thousands of newscasts, she transitioned to the digital team in 2015. She writes on a wide variety of topics from breaking news to trending stories and manages KSAT’s daily digital content strategy.