Fire Cause Still ‘Undetermined’; Next Step is Clean-Up

La Grange Fire Chief Frank Menefee reported that State Fire Marshals investigated the fire at the old La Grange Plastics Building on Colorado St., but they were unable to determine a cause.

The fire early Sunday morning, Jan. 22, reduced the 78,000 sq. ft. warehouse to a massive pile of rubble. Menefee said State Fire Marshals arrived on Monday with a canine investigation unit.

“There was not much they could do because of all the debris,” Menefee said. “It’s really unsafe to be in the structure. They ran their canine around the outside but there were so many other chemicals inside the building. They didn’t want to jeopardize their dog. So we called it off.”

Menefee said the cause of the fire was deemed “undetermined at this time.”

La Grange Plastics has not been in operation for many years. Menefee said another warehouse building on the property burned down several years ago. La Grange Councilwoman Patsy Zbranek recalled that Falstaff Feeds operated a feed mill on the property many years ago prior to La Grange Plastics.

“The next process is going to be to try and get it cleaned up,” said Menefee, who also serves as the interim City Manager for La Grange. “It’s a mess, right there when you come into La Grange.”

At Monday night’s La Grange City Council meeting, Councilman Guenten Gonzalez asked whether the owner would be responsible for the cleanup.

“Yes, they will,” Menefee said. “If they don’t follow through like they’re supposed to, we’ll have to bite the bullet and clean it up. I think we need to do that quickly, because it doesn’t look very nice sitting there. It’s unsafe now and we don’t want people around it.”

Menefee said the City could place a lien on the property, if necessary, to eventually recoup the cleanup costs.