On Friday afternoon, Chopper 5 showed what was originally dispatched as a hazardous chemical structure fire that sent 15 units to the CMC Recycling facility on the city's south side.
"I was taking a nap and then I started choking," said Deborah Lund, a three-year resident of the area. "And when I opened my eyes that black stuff was inside the house and I saw the smoke."
"We had magnesium fires back in the 80's. Again, there was no evacuation plan or nothing," said Michael Martinez of the Lone Star Neighborhood Association. "The fires have been going on constantly for over the last 40 or 50 years."
"I'm troubled, needless to say, because you could see that the fumes were really toxic. And they were heavy in the air," District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said.
Friday's fire at what is now CMC Recycling looked to have ignited in a pile of scrap metal, including some mashed up cars. KENS 5 reached out to the San Antonio Fire Department to find out the cause but didn't hear back.
From what neighbors in the area say, these fires happen almost daily and have for years.
"I saw the media and I thought, that's a surprise because this happens all the time. And I thought, 'Why now this serious interest?" Lund said.
But the fires, believe it or not, aren't their main concern. They said that not being notified is what got their blood boiling.
"We sent out the text to everybody we knew to contact and everybody mobilized and moved into action to start contacting everybody else to move and let's get on it, doing what paid officials are supposed to be doing," said Dolores Martinez of the Lone Star Neighborhood Association.
KENS 5 tried to talk to CMC Recycling but were told that they were closed, so we went to their website to see what they had to say about safety and found this statement:
"We promote a safe and healthy environment for all individuals associated with CMC, including employees, vendors, customers, and our surrounding communities."
Several KENS 5 Facebook followers posted pictures and videos of the smoke as they drove in the area on Friday afternoon, showing dark gray plumes filling the air above the facility.
The fires should come to an end soon as Lone Star Brewing is set to take over the facility in about a year.
