MESCAL, Ariz. (KGUN) — It's been almost two weeks since multiple vehicles and trucks burned in a Mescal tow yard, and neighbors, like Carport City, are still cleaning up.
Larry Hubbard, owner of Carport City, was supposed to donate two tiny homes to the San Carlos Reservation, but because of a fire next door, he's no longer able to do so.
“It’s been a little rough,” he said of the days after the fire.
Hubbard was taking out his trash when he saw the flames and smoke from Rapid Towing. He was first to see the fire and call 9-1-1. He wasn't worried until the wind shifted.
“My building...filled up with smoke,” Hubbard said.
Which left dust and smoke damage in his home, warehouse and tiny homes.
"It's rough on my health," Hubbard said. "I'm having a hard time breathing down here, and it's just kind of tough, and I'm concerned about my neighborhood.”
He says it’ll cost over $40,000 dollars to clean his warehouse and he'll have to leave his home for a couple weeks while the work is done. But, he's more concerned about the possible contamination from what burned and how the runoff goes into the San Pedro River.
“I'm really, disappointed that there's not any straw barriers up here to catch any of that,” Hubbard said.
The two tiny homes he had near the neighboring fence, were for people on the San Carlos Reservation, who lost their homes to fires.
"I couldn't put anybody into this," he said of the damaged home. "I couldn't even, I can't even move it the way that it is right now, because it's going to fall apart.”
Now, he plans to donate a fifth wheel trailer and the tiny house that didn’t have damage because he still wants to help.
“We're hurting the San Carlos community, because we should have already had these houses up there and been getting them set up, and they're dealing with what we could have dealt with here,” Hubbard said.
He says the damage has also affected his business.
“It’s making it really hard to do business right now," Hubbard said. "For one thing, people don’t like to smell this and plus they can’t see the product now because the product’s been destroyed.”
All he can do now is wait and dust off what’s happened.
“I need to get on with my life and I need to get my house back in order,” Hubbard said.
He says he doesn't know when the inside of his warehouse and home will be cleared of dust and smoke damage from the fire, but he's determined to move forward.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
