Saturday Fire Not The First At Recycling Plant

EL PASO, Texas — Fire crews are still investigating what caused Saturday night’s massive Eastside blaze. But it’s not the first time fire units have responded to a fire at the Newell Recycling Plant.

ABC-7 records show the plant has gone up in flames at least 30 times in the past 10 years, each time posing a serious threat to nearby businesses and lives.

Hector Esquivel has worked near the plant for five years and says he has seen four or five fires at that time.

“Big fires. All the time, pretty much. There are big fires,” he said.

Saturday night’s fire was the first since 2007, but fire officials say they do have a history with Newell Recycling. In the past, fire officials said the plant has become sloppy while trying to recycle automobile parts like batteries and gas tanks.

“At some of these fires, they weren’t completely draining all the gasoline from these vehicles and that’s when they’d start the shredding process, and you’d have a fire,” said El Paso Fire Department spokesman Lt. Mario Hernandez.

And with highly flammable propane tanks nearby, the threat of fires is creating quite a concern for area businesses.

“We’ve got the refinery in the front and the recycling on the side and another one in the back, we’re right here in the middle so it’s kinda dangerous to be here.”

Fire officials said the department has worked closely with workers on different safety issues since 2007. The plant’s owners did not return ABC-7’s calls this weekend.