Black smoke from crematorium spurs questions on social media

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - If you’ve seen black smoke near west Laredo, you’re not the only one.

KGNS spoke with residents and government agencies to learn more about what’s causing the smoke and where’s it coming from.

A viral post is prompting questions in a west Laredo neighborhood. Residents near Santa Ursula Avenue have taken to social media to demand answers.

A crematorium has been the subject of these questions after causing an unusual amount of black smoke.

Chris Benavides lives about a block away from South Texas Mortuary and Cremation Services.

He has been posting videos to Facebook showing the smoke, one post getting 39,000 views.

He says he started seeing black smoke coming from the crematorium almost three weeks ago, the most recent time being last July 29th.

“I went home. The smell was still horrible. The smell lasted around three days. I had to light candles. It lasted in my lungs, in my throat, in my nose,” Benavides said. “I’m worried about that stuff, and then now I’m finding out it’s COVID bodies.”

The community’s response prompted local officials to take a look.

After receiving several complaints last week, the fire marshal, Health Department, and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality investigated.

Interim Laredo Fire Chief Ramiro Elizondo confirmed that the crematorium kept deceased COVID-19 victims in body bags during cremation, calling it a “definite wrongdoing on their behalf.”

He says this was out of fear of contracting the virus, although there is little evidence to suggest someone can become infected from a deceased individual.

“We can understand why the concerns were there, so the city took appropriate measures to send an immediate response for action,” said Investigator Joe Baeza with the Laredo Police Department. “Upon inspection, it was deemed that they were in conformity with regulations and that they were not posing any type of extreme situation for the environment for the residents.”

The crematorium sent a statement to KGNS saying they have been working with the TCEQ to make sure they are in compliance with state standards.

Owner Mario Aguero says the pandemic has challenged their way of doing business, with an unprecedented number of requests for cremation services.

Aguero said in the statement:

“It has put us on the frontline of this pandemic, caring for the remains of loved ones lost to this merciless illness. We are committed to providing thoughtful and respectful care in our cremation services. At the same time, we are considerate of our employees handling the human remains, who perished as a result of COVID-19.”

Investigator Joe Baeza says no citations or reports were made, but they requested the crematorium to stop cremating bodies inside the alleged bags.

The funeral home attached to the crematorium issued a statement as well, clarifying that they operate independently and are not associated with the crematorium.

They wrote: “Hernandez, Lopez & Sons Funeral Chapels assures the families we serve and the public that any human remains that are scheduled for cremation services are treated with the utmost respect and dignity and are not transferred to the crematorium until the time the crematorium is ready to receive the remains for cremation.”

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