SAN ANTONIO – A spark during the process of moving vehicles, combined with leaking fuel, was blamed for a large fire Wednesday morning at an East Side recycling center.
San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Joe Arrington said workers at the All Star Recycling Center, at 7103 FM 1346, were transporting a newly arrived vehicle when they punctured the vehicle's unremoved fuel tank, causing gasoline to leak from the car.
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During the process, a spark ignited the spill, and the fire spread to a stack of junk vehicles inside the recycling center.
East Side recycling center fire. Can't get a good look at what is on fire, but it looks like a car yard pic.twitter.com/zVSrOWzf7h
— Garrett Brnger (@BrngerReports) February 14, 2018
Arrington said the call came in just after 11:20 a.m., and because the recycling center is at the edge of the city limits, SAFD and Bexar County Emergency Services Districts fire crews arrived at the scene and contained the fire.
“Fire was moving pretty quickly, but we got crews here quickly and got aerial operations set up to get the fire contained to just the junk vehicles,” Arrington said.
Arrington said crews were initially worried about the fire spreading to a nearby residential mobile home.
A hazmat crew was called in as a precaution to monitor runoff mixture of old fuel coming from old junk cars.
Arrington said there are no reported injuries and there is no longer any danger to the area.
At least 10 SAFD fire units were called to the scene.