A firefighter was treated for apparent heat exhaustion from a three-alarm warehouse blaze in east Houston.
The fire broke out about 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Supply Pro, a company that makes oil spill cleanup products in a building along Hahlo and Old Clinton Drive. All the employees were safe and accounted for, HFD officials said.
More than 100 firefighters fought the blaze. Thick clouds of black smoke could be seen for several miles in any direction.
HFD officials instituted a five-mile radius shelter in place order around the warehouse for several hours, eventually reducing it to the immediate vicinity.
"We are monitoring the air and water at this time," said HFD Capt. Ruy Lozano.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also sent a team to the scene.
HFD arson officers are conducting an investigation of the blaze. A firefighter at the scene said it may have been started by an electrical wire falling on a bale of cotton.
Fire department officials said the warehouse contained a large quantity of polypropylene, often used in making plastic products.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
