Mount St. Helotes (Dallas, San Antonio, Anton: house, allergy, living)

[Steel Man]

Well, anyone living on the northwest side of San Antonio should know about the "mulch pile" fire. What do you think about this and how they are handling (or not) this mess?

BTW: I decided to call this large mulch pile Mount St Helotes.

[RedOregon]

I was kinda surprised the ice storm didn't kill it... figured the heat would be enough to help the rain/ice penetrate. Guess there just wasn't enough of the wet stuff.

[slaleman]

I don't care what the TCEQ says about air quality...we all know "government standards" are usually well beyond what humans should have to tolerate because someone lobbied to make it lax...

I live about 3 miles SE of the pile, around the Bandera/Mainland area, and there have been mornings where I walk out of my house and choke because the smell is unbearable.

Last night, I was outside washing the cars and the wind shifted slightly and that horrible smell came wafting in. I had to go in the house.

The nose is sensitive for a reason...so we can sniff out danger. This fire is way more dangerous than the government is making it out to be IMHO.

[wCat]

Personally I think it's unbelieveable that it's gone on this long. I have allergy induced asthma from pollution, so I'd be having serious health problems if I were near it.

I think the community should be up in arms over it. It obviously doesn't respond to water. It reminds me of Pennsylvania where there are coal mine fires have been burning for decades because they can't get to them. Also, up in Dallas we had a tire dump catch fire that had similar problems.....it took weeks to put out with some other chemical agent. (another environmental disaster)

There's no telling what kind of chemicals or toxic agents are in the mulch to keep it burning. San Antonio and Helotes and surrounding counties all need to join forces to find an answer to putting this out. Not only the air quality is suffering, but toxins are seeping into the water supply.

Anyone know if this is over a aquifer recharge zone???

What is the current game plan....or is it just wait it out?

[irnag]

Hope this helps

[Jazrag]

Helotes holds a meeting every week to reinstate the 'state of emergency'. They had to stop putting water on the pile because it was pouring chemicals into the aquifer. Several people call the city of Helotes daily giving their own ideas as to how to put the fire out, but ultimately its the job of the contracted company to figure out how to put it out without polluting our water supply.

[Steel Man]

I live about 9 miles south of the pile and some days can smell the smoke. It is strange how these air currents can carry particulates so far away. Does anyone remember the train accident down in southwest Bexar County where two people were killed when chlorine was spilled several years ago? Well, I work on Wiseman/Loop 1604 and that same night a cloud of chlorine gas went up Loop 1604 and the next morning we had several steel coils with rust on them in our plant.

[MichelleSG]

It has it's own My Space page...
We live a few miles from it and boy you can tell when the wind shifts!

[neddy]

I guess I am pretty close to it at 10/De Zavala and I can see it( the smoke sometimes) and smell it but my kids have had the flu so I can't tell what's affecting them but I am also having to do breathing treatments with steroids for my 4 yr old. Dh is at UTSA and it bothers them there somedays.

[raven69david]

HA HA HA...i love the title. I can smell it when the wind is blowing out of the n/nw. I live by Sea World and at times the smoke covers the whole area in a white cloud of smoke. I like the smell...reminds me of being around a campfire.