Mulch fire still burning in San Antonio....

[Saphire]

this fire has been burning since December 25th. I haven't seen much on DU about this. It seems now that putting water on it was a bad idea.



State ratchets down mulch fire fight

09:06 AM CST on Friday, January 19, 2007
Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO - Environmental officials ordered a contractor to scale back firefighting efforts Thursday on a massive mulch fire northwest of here after two nearby residents found cloudy, smoky-smelling water pouring from their taps.

The residents were drawing water from private wells, not the public water system, but they draw from the same aquifer that feeds water to San Antonio and nearby counties, some 1.7 million people in all.





http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/011907dntexmulchfire.55e7cb55.html

[Beausoleil]

1. Not much talk about penalties for these bozos

having this pile of mulch over the Edwards aquifer recharge zone.

[Sal Minella]

2. No excuse for this -- for at least a dozen years, landscapers have known spontaneous combustion

causes fires in mulch piles -- at least a dozen years ago, I was reading about state facilities storing their mulch-wood in log form and running it through the mulcher just before application.

[Unperson]

3. Large piles of any organic material will start fires.

The interior of such a pile is like a little oven. That is the best way to make compost. Drive by any coal yard and you'll see massive water sprinklers hosing down the piles.

[Beausoleil]

4. Even worse than spontaneous combustion

They are suspecting arson because the place was broken into the night before the fire was noticed. I've heard that the police are questioning individuals from the nearby Sandra Day O'Connor High School.

[Avalux]

5. It's really bad - Helotes neighborhoods affected.

The fire is in far Northwest San Antonio and it is right above the aquifter recharge zone. We had a few days of bad weather last week with freezing rain/sleet and snow which only made the whole thing worse. At this point, there doesn't seem to be a way to put it out.

[Saphire]

6. I heard it would take almost 10 years to burn out on its own.