RIVERVIEW, Fla. — The massive fire that broke out at the Mosaic fertilizer plant in south Hillsborough County on Monday was eventually brought under control by firefighters.
Crews fought the fire, intense heat and heavy smoke for several hours. There were no injuries reported.
What You Need To Know
- Fire broke out Monday evening at Mosaic plant in Riverview
- Heavy smoke at flames near plant, no injuries reported
- Investigation into cause of fire ongoing
- PREVIOUS STORY: Firefighters battle fire near Mosaic plant in Riverview
According to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, the fire broke out just before 6 p.m.
Fire officials said winds were gusting to 25 miles an hour at the time of the fire Monday night and firefighters said those winds are what caused the fire to spread so quickly and so fast.
Officials are now looking at what caused the fire. And Mosiac said it’s cooperating with authorities on the next steps.
The fire happened on Mosaic property but away from the active plant near a closed gypsum stack.
The fire was noticeable because of the thick black smoke, which was visible for miles. Fire Rescue officials said the smoke was coming from a big stack of plastic pipes that caught fire.
Fire Rescue officials also said the agency partners with Mosaic and even does training at the plant for situations just like this.
“We do a lot of work with Mosaic,” said Rob Herrin, Public Safety Information Chief with HCFR. “From identifying the products and kind of how to mitigate that to, we’ve done rope work with them, rescuing an employee that might have fainted or whatever at a high elevation, so we do a lot of work with our partners here.”
No official cause of the fire has been determined yet, but an investigation is ongoing.
Mosaic officials released a statement, saying:
“A brushfire occurred at our Riverview site during routine maintenance. Thanks to the swift action of our employees and local emergency responders, the fire was quickly contained with no offsite impacts.”