A massive fire at a recycling facility in Houston's East End is still burning, more than a day after it broke out, as crews keep up a relentless effort to bring it under control. A live aerial view from Sky Fox showed multiple fire trucks still pouring water onto the site, with active flames visible in part of the scene.
The blaze has been burning since about two o'clock Monday afternoon, meaning firefighters have now been at it for many hours straight. What started as a fire at the facility has stretched into a prolonged operation, with crews working around the clock to keep the flames in check and stop them from spreading further.
The scale of the response underscores how serious the fire has become. Nearly 200 firefighters have been deployed to the scene near Kellogg in Manchester, where they are battling the blaze and dousing it from several directions at once, with multiple streams of water seen trained on the burning pile.
Officials say the fire took hold because of a giant pile of tires and debris that caught fire and quickly grew. That kind of material burns hot and is notoriously difficult to extinguish, which helps explain why the operation has dragged on for so long and why so many crews have been called in to fight it.
Because of the nature of what is burning, officials say the fire could keep going for days. Rather than a quick knockdown, firefighters are settling in for an extended effort, focused on putting out hot spots and trying to contain the smoke drifting over the surrounding area rather than expecting a fast end.
Footage from the fire showed crews making steady progress even as flames continued to flare. Several sprays of water were seen hitting the blaze at once, and conditions on the ground reflected the long, grinding work of containing a fire that took hold in a large mass of combustible material.
Despite the size of the fire and the length of the response, there is one piece of reassuring news: no injuries have been reported. As crews press on with the effort near Kellogg in Manchester, the focus remains on smothering the remaining hot spots and limiting the smoke until the recycling facility fire is finally out.