"It wasn't my day today," said Fabien Casas. Casas was one of six employees inside the recycling plant in Uvalde when flames started to rip through the facility. "It was all smoky in there," said Casas. "We couldn't breathe that much and we came outside."
Casas tried to put out the fire when it was small. "At first it was just like a little pallet of fire," he said. But winds came in through a door and it spread fast.
"There were a lot of electronics where they were trying to put it out," said Uvalde County Sheriff Charles Mendeke.
Plumes of black smoke ascended thousands of feet into the sky and could be seen for more than a hundred miles. "This is about the biggest we've ever had," said Chief Gene Ayala from the Uvalde Volunteer Fire Department.
Firefighters aggresively fought flames. Their priority was removing propane tanks and making sure no victims were trapped.
Recyclables like textiles, clothing, tiles and plastic continued to burn for hours. With no risk of hazardous chemicals and no real danger to neighbors, crews decided to contain the fire and just let it burn out, a task that could take another 24 hours.
Meanwhile, workers watched their livelihood burn and wondered what's next.. "I need to go look for a job now," said Casas.
