HOUSTON — A huge fire is still burning at a recycling facility in northeast Houston.
It's mostly out now but firefighters said the flames were 50 feet tall when they first arrived at the scene. Firefighters said two football fields worth of rubber and trash caught on fire.
The fire first broke out at the Derichebourg recycling facility on Wallisville Road just west of Wayside Drive around 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Firefighters said they had to get the flames under control first. Then they had to bring in heavy machinery to flatten and turn the piles of burning rubber over.
The Houston Fire Department said they had no idea what sparked this fire but they had been to this facility before.
“We’ve been out here a couple of times before. It’s a recycling plant. It’s mostly rubberized materials. Car parts. They recycle all kinds of things,” Jimmy Campbell with HFD said.
Because of the materials stored here, hazmat was called to the scene right away. They have been monitoring the air quality. They also are making sure there is no concerning water runoff.
HFD said they don’t believe there is any risk to the public.
A private company will continue monitoring hot spots as they wait for the fire to burn out.