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AssetID: 35013801

Headline: Spontaneous Combustion of Tortilla Chips

Caption: The case of the spontaneous combustion of tortilla chips. Firefighters in Texas reported Wednesday (18 July) they have had a tasty problem recently - putting out fires caused by tortilla chips bursting into flame. The strange occurance has happened not once, but twice within three days. Austin Fire Department were called to a factory after waste from the production of the chips caught alight seemingly on its own. Three days later they were called to deal with a reoccurance of the problem. The factory explained that they were trying out a new way to handle waste. Austin Fire Department explain: "Tortilla chips are big business around these parts. We take them seriously, as they are responsible for holding all manner of very important things—like queso, salsa, nachos, and various other sundry items that are critical to a Texan’s everyday life and well-being. So imagine how distressed we were to be called to a fire at a tortilla chip factory earlier this week…not once, but twice! "On the evening of July 12, several of our B-shift crews responded to 6110 Trade Center Drive for the spontaneous combustion of tortilla chips. Yes, you read that right. Spontaneous combustion. Of tortilla chips. "The factory in question was trying out a new way to handle the waste from the chips that, suffice it to say, didn’t work out so well. The fire was confined to the exterior of the building and to multiple pallets of food waste, but large cardboard boxes of the same waste continued to ignite while we were on scene! Then, to add insult to injury, additional (previously uninvolved) boxes of the same food waste spontaneously combusted just three days later. "The solution? The A- and B-shift crews from Engine 35 who were getting off/coming on that day drowned all of the other crates that had yet to burn, thereby eliminating the risk completely. "Thankfully, there were no damages in either case since the fires were on the outside of the building and involved only food waste."

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