Abandoned building near H&H Foods plant catches fire

By Nick Pipitone in The McAllen Monitor
A building down the street from the H&H Foods plant caught fire Monday evening, causing substantial property damage to a facility authorities said was to be demolished soon. The building caught fire around 5:30 p.m., Weslaco Emergency Management Coordinator George Garrett said. Emergency responders do not know what caused the flames and are investigating.

Demolition crews were working on it when the fire started, Garrett said, though there were no injuries.

Fire departments from Harlingen, La Feria, Mercedes, Weslaco and Donna responded and had most of the flames on the roof extinguished by 6:30 p.m. Most of the roof on the far side of the building had collapsed, Garrett said.

He also said emergency responders had difficulty accessing the building when they arrived because the gates surrounding the facility were locked.

Police blocked exits leading to the plant on Expressway 83, as well as the frontage roads to traffic as firefighters fought the blaze.

H&H Foods’ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2008 and a federal bankruptcy court approved their debt reorganization plant that September. The company is owned by the powerful Hinojosa family that includes U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa.

The owners of the abandoned building arrived at the scene of the fire, but declined to comment to reporters after repeated attempts.