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Did You Know?Other residents called it a fire hazard, taking their complaints to Helotes city officials, one of whom responded, “We have heard the complaint about the pile over and over again, but it is out of our jurisdiction, and we refer them to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).”TCEQ environmental inspectors had inspected the recycling operation, owned by Henry Zumwalt (1936-2022), several times and deemed it “in compliance.” An inspector with the fire marshal’s office told an Express- News reporter in 2005, “There is a recurring complaint about that place [Zumwalt property], but it is not a fire hazard at all. The pile is about 75 percent dirt, so that prevents any fires. It may be an eyesore, but it is not illegal to have an eyesore.”Located just outside Helotes’s city limits, the giant mulch pile caught fire at around midnight December 25, 2006, accordingto the Bexar County fire marshal’s office. Although arson was suspected, the fire’s origin was never firmly established.The flames from the mulch pile leapt so high the day after it started that people along Loop 1604 several miles away could see them. The fire was a nightmare for residents near it and those living downwind. People woke in the mornings to see their vehicles covered in ash, and the smoke seriously affected people with allergies and other health ailments. On December 29, Helotes Mayor Jon Allan declared a local state of disaster for Helotes.In early January 2007, after several weeks of “passing the buck” between county and state officials, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality contracted with Oil Mop LLC of Pasadena to put out the fire. The million-dollar contract included a tentative target date of January 24 to have the fire snubbed out, but problems with particles from the fire leeching into nearby wells caused the San Antonio Water System to stop the effort.Ultimately, the fire was finallyABy Cynthia Leal Masseylmost 20 years ago, Helotes became national news when a giant pile of mulch caught fire onChristmas Day. The story of the giant mulch fire spent weeks on the front page of the San Antonio Express-News. Picked up by the Associated Press, the fire, referred to as “Mulchie” on social media, appeared in USA Today and other newspapers around the country.Helotes residents had been complaining about the mulch pile for months before the blaze occurred. In June 2005, a resident who lived across FM 1560 from the giant pile of mulch estimated to be 400 feet long, 80 high, and 200 feet wide, observed, “That trash heap they call a brush pile is the biggest eyesore I have ever seen in my life. It isn’t a pile. It’s a wall of garbage....”The smoldering mulch mountain, Feb. 4, 2007.extinguished on March 27, 2007, and according to the Express-News, “‘Mulchie’ cost taxpayers $5.8 million to extinguish.”Cynthia Leal Masseyis the author of several books on the historyof Helotes. For more information, visit her website, cynthialealmassey. com, and her Facebook page, CLM Books.Area Family Represents 1.7 Million San Antonio Neighbors In AustinTBy Leslie Hickswo homespun “lobbyists” called on Texas Legislators in early May to prevent a Florida-basedhomebuilder from pouring treated sewer into their drinking cups.Lynette Toepperwein Munson and her aunt Jane Sams drove to the state capitol to visit members of the House Committee on Natural Resources carrying copies of HCR 121, Republican Rep. Mark Dorazio’s concurrent resolution to protect the Edwards Aquifer starting in Helotes Creek, their backyard.Taking time from day jobs near their Grey Forest homes on May 8, they delivered a “Guajolote Ranch Issue Explained” information sheet to ask each member to pass the Resolution out of committee.“Only one representative’s office had no one there, but we left our package,” Munson said, adding that eye-to-eye, face-to-face and hand-shake meetings have impact. “We definitely got the, ‘Yeah, this is a big issue’reaction.”Indeed, it has statewide and nationalimplications because Lennar Corp.’s planned 2,900-home development could become a template for more developments of this sort.Munson and Sams are members of the Scenic Loop-Helotes Creek Alliance, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization opposing Lennar’s plans to pump 1 million gallons a day of wastewater into the watershed.Historically, such facilities experience breeches, taking longer to clean up than the instant they fail.The proposed 1,100-acre site has been the subject of controversy for more than two years, but some South Texas leaders believe residents – including elderly and children – should accept the risk, calling it a natural trade-off for growth. Others note that most construction plans are structured more safely and everyday people do not deserve harm.Lynette Toepperwein Munson and Jane Sams visit the capitol May 8 to raise awareness of water safety.“We are Ground Zero Water Warriors because the likely vulnerability will affect all our neighbors, causing illness and ruiningour way of life – possibly throughout Texas,” Sams said.I Spy With My Little Eye... ContestPBy Sally Kaloslease look carefully on each and every page, scanning up and down, left and right, from front toback, and then back to front. Don’t give up! If you can find the dad golfer, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win $50! Just email the page number and location where you spotted the dad golfer to contest@highlightspub.com.The deadline is June 9, 2025.We hope you’ll have fun with our versionof a mini-scavenger hunt within our pages. Good luck!your local geico agent makes bundling simple.Home + Auto = easyLOCAL OFFICERod Musslewhite210-673-2391¡Hablamos Español!Limitations apply. See geico.com for more details. GEICO & affiliates. Washington, DC 20076. GEICO Gecko image © 1999-2022. © 2022 GEICO. 21_633312129Congratulations to our May I Spy winner Jennifer and Lavanya Hundekar4www.heloteshighlights.comJune 2025