Hay Barn Owned by Palmer Feed Bursts Into Flames

A fire has engulfed a structure, which is apparently a small barn, behind Mendez Cafe on the 3400 block of South Chadbourne Street. The fire department is on the scene addressing the situation with five fire trucks fighting the fire. The SAPD has blocked off the nearby bridge. Watch for updates here on San Angelo LIVE!

Update

At 11:30 a.m., SAFD received a call for a structure fire on the 3400 Block of South Chadbourne, according to SAFD chief of operations Scott Farris. The firefighters arrived to heavy smoke and flames. Thanks to the efforts of SAFD, Mendez Café has no interior damage and is likely to be open again soon.

A warehouse owned by Palmer Feed, that was probably three-fourths full of coastal hay, caught fire for unknown reasons. The building was vacant at the time. Farris claimed that there is no reason to suspect arson at the moment, but the case is still under investigation.

At the time of Farris’s statement, there were 22 firefighters on the scene. Additionally, there were four fire trucks pumping water, one lighter truck, one rescue vehicle, and four command staff fighting the fire.

The firefighters were encouraged to stay out of the smoke as much as possible, as the department is unsure of exactly what materials were in the fire besides hay.

“We preach to our guys constantly: 'stay out of smoke, stay out of smoke,'” Farris said. “We’re firefighters; we’re used to smoke, but that doesn’t have to mean that we live in it. Smoke’s always a big concern to it because you never know what’s inside that smoke.”

In order to help extinguish the flames, the SAFD made use of a soapy water mixture. According to Farris, the soap helps to saturate the hay and get into crevices in order to put the fire out more effectively.

SAFD hopes to extinguish the fire and release more details to the public by the end of the day today.

“If stuff burns up, it burns up, and sometimes the evidence burns up too,” Farris said. “But we try to get as close to figuring out the root cause as we can.”