Tortilla Chips Spontaneously Burst Into Flames at Texas Factory

Austin Fire Department
Austin Fire Department

The factory was trying out a new way to handle waste that "didn’t work out so well," fire officials said.

Hold the ghost pepper!

Firefighters were called to a Texas tortilla chip factory, not once, but twice in three days after boxes of chips "spontaneously combusted."

The first blaze ignited last Thursday after workers attempted to dispose of waste created by the chip-making process "that, suffice it to say, didn’t work out so well," the Austin Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post.

"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," the post read.

"So imagine how distressed we were to be called to a fire at a tortilla chip factory earlier this week … not once, but twice!"

Firefighters managed to contain the first fire, but three days later, flames broke out again after additional boxes of chip waste ignited. That was when firefighters decided to drown the remaining "crates that had yet to burn, thereby eliminating the risk completely."

Thankfully, no one was injured. 

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