AUBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - AUSTIN, T.X. (WHDH)- Pallets of tortilla chips spontaneously combusted not once but twice outside a Texas factory.
According to a Facebook post from the Austin Fire Department Wednesday, firefighters were called to the scene on July 12, to combat a blaze that had been caused by the spontaneous combustion of several cases of food waste.
The factory, located at 6110 Trade Center Drive, had been testing a new way to handle the waste caused by tortilla chip production when the fire erupted. This new approach” suffice it to say, didn’t work out so well,” said the department.
The fire was confined to the exterior of the building and crews were able to douse it even though large cardboard boxes continued to ignite while first responders were on the scene.
Then, just three days later several more boxes of the same waste ignited in a similar fashion.
Firefighters were once again called to the scene and to eliminate any future risk, decided to drown all of the crates for good measure.
The factory suffered no damages in the blaze.
In the post, fire officials said, “Tortilla chips are big business around these parts. We take them seriously, as they are responsible for holding all manner of very important things—like queso, salsa, nachos, and various other sundry items that are critical to a Texan’s everyday life and well-being. So imagine how distressed we were to be called to a fire at a tortilla chip factory earlier this week”
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