SAN ANTONIO – A huge mulch fire that broke out early Tuesday inside a New Braunfels business has been sending drivers out of their way.
According to a tweet on the New Braunfels Fire Department Twitter page, Solms Road is closed between FM 482 and Wald Road and could remain that way for some time.
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The fire broke out around 1 a.m. at Eggemeyer Land Clearing, located in the 300 block of Solms Road.
The fire department said crews originally found fire in two mulch piles, but it spread to two more.
The flames and smoke could be seen from as far away as Interstate 35.
But drivers in the immediate area of the fire faced the greater impact.
That section of Solms Road is a busy route for truckers, many of whom had to quickly find another way around.
Barry Poole steered his big rig toward the trouble zone, anxious to see what was happening.
“I saw the smoke and when I went past the trees, I could see the flames and I knew exactly what it was,” he said.
Poole said he is familiar, both, with the business and with mulch fires, in general.
“The mulch piles, they get hot in the center. They water them, but sometimes you just can’t keep up with the water and it turns into flames,” he said. “It’s a big deal. He could lose his whole business.”
He and others who stopped by the site said this was not the first time there had been a mulch fire at that site.
Poole said he pitched in to help extinguish another, smaller fire at that business a little more than four years ago.
“They could use all the help they can get. It’s a daunting task and it’s a dangerous task too,” he said. “We came with a track hoe and started digging in the pile and spraying the center. We got that one under control.”
Firefighters described this latest fire as being under control, as well.
They said it did not damage or threaten any other homes or businesses, and no one was injured.
While drivers may have been inconvenienced by the road closure, most appeared to take it in stride.
The fire department says crews will allow the fire to burn out on its own, and they could remain on site monitoring it for another day or so.