Large fire contained after east Harris County pallet business went up in flames

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Firefighters battled a huge blaze for hours on Thursday at a pallet business on Church Road in east Harris County.

Pallets were burning and threatening a neighboring house.

The Houston Fire Department said the fire started on the backside of the building at about 12:30 p.m. and kept spreading.

With recent dry conditions, burn bans have recently been implemented for area counties, including Harris, Matagorda, and Fort Bend.

Greg Coleman was visiting a friend who lives across the street from the business.

"All I saw was smoke in the air, so we came out, and everything was on fire. There were a bunch of explosions."

"It progressed into the pallets. It got the pallets going, and it made a pretty huge fire. It got into the propane tanks that he used on his equipment. That spread the fire even more when they started exploding," HFD deputy chief Roger Westhoff said.

Coleman was so close he could feel the scorching heat.

"It got pretty hot for a second. A lot of debris was flying from the explosions, and wood and metal pieces from the propane take were flying across the street," Coleman said.

Crews were also up against other challenges like the dry grass and wind.

"The wind makes it rapidly spread, and it's hard to get ahead of stuff like that, and it takes a little bit to get ahead of it," Westhoff said.

The fire was contained, and no one was injured. HFD is still trying to determine a cause.

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READ MORE: Greater Houston area among 120 Texas counties burn ban due to prolonged dry and hot weather