Richmond wood debris pile fire 75% contained as crews battle for 3rd day, official says

RICHMOND, Texas (KTRK) -- Crews from 14 different agencies have 75% containment on a fire burning a Richmond mulching site Monday evening, about 72 hours after sparking, according to Fort Bend County Fire Marshal Justin Jurek.

Firefighters have an around-the-clock effort to put it out.

ABC13 learned the fire started at the center of a wood debris pile.

Millions of gallons of water were poured into the large wood and natural debris pile as firefighters did all they could to put out the fire's remaining 25%, deep in the center of the large debris pile.

The first call about the fire occurred on Friday at Frank's Nursery off U.S. 90 in Richmond.

Neal Nagel, a neighbor living near the fire, told ABC13 he's unwillingly spent "hours and hours of breathing the smoke."

Over the weekend, the wind brought the smell and sight of smoke into nearby neighborhoods.

"They're testing the smoke," Nagel said.

The Fort Bend County Hazardous Material (Hazmat) Response Team has been monitoring the air quality for days.

"This is where we do all our research, air monitoring by GPS locations and area monitoring," J.R. Whatley, the Fort Bend County battalion chief, said.

Portable air monitors were spread throughout a nearby neighborhood to capture anything harmful in the air. Some neighbors called the smoke concerning.

"It's an inconvenience, but at what point does the inconvenience get into something more serious," Nagel said.

As of Monday evening, the hazmat battalion chief and fire marshal confirmed no cause for concern or ordered evacuations.

Jurek told ABC13 they were also using trucks to test air quality further north as far as they could see the plume. He said all readings on Monday came back with moderate to normal ranges.

According to Jurek, the fire started naturally.

"What started this on Friday is they were trying to chip away at some of this and grind and make mulch. They created an air gap in there," Jurek explained. "This is the raw material of wood and natural debris, and then they mulch."

He said all the debris was so compact, they had issues getting water down to the area of origin.

Officials said they needed to send additional resources to help on Saturday because the fire had flared significantly. As of Sunday, the fire, Eyewitness News was told, is burning slowly, but because of the size of the wood and debris pile, it could continue for a few more days.

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