A massive fire broke out Monday at Mammoth Metal Recycling in Houston’s East End, sending a column of black smoke skyward that was visible across a wide swath of the city. The fire tore through a large pile of accumulated waste, primarily tires, and was still burning into Monday evening.
The timing drew immediate scrutiny. A Houston Fire Department source told KPRC 2 that the company had picked up two citations in the past month alone for illegal burning at the property. How many prior violations may have been issued before that window is not known. The fire is just the latest entry in a growing list of legal and regulatory problems tied to the company.
Court records reviewed by FOX 26 show that Mammoth Metal Recycling Houston Land Co., LLC was sued in October 2024 by multiple taxing entities, including the City of Houston, Houston ISD, Houston Community College, and Harris County, over delinquent property taxes.
A Harris County judge signed a default judgment against the company in May 2025 after it failed to answer the suit, with the total judgment exceeding $113,000, including penalties and interest. The court also authorized a sale of the property.
A motion to dismiss was filed the day after the judgment, but a City of Houston spokesperson said the court has not entered a dismissal order. The current status of the litigation and any outstanding tax obligations remains unclear.
The company’s leaders have also faced federal criminal charges.
A grand jury indicted a group of defendants in June 2023 in connection with an alleged $53 million fraud scheme targeting COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program funds, according to a DOJ press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Prosecutors alleged a network of affiliated recycling companies, Mammoth Metal Recycling among them, submitted at least 29 fraudulent PPP loan applications that inflated payroll figures, with defendants manipulating bank statements and IRS tax records to falsely document business income. The case, which involved 14 defendants, was described at the time as the largest investigation taken up by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.
Mihir Patel, identified in court filings as the CFO of Sunshine Recycling and owner of the Mammoth Group, was among those charged. Federal court records indicate the owner of the Mammoth Group pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in 2024 and is scheduled for sentencing this summer. His current role with the company, if any, is unclear.
Prateek Desai, identified in the 2023 federal case as the owner of West Texas Scrap and named in the PPP fraud charges, identified himself as the managing director of Mammoth Metal Recycling and said he was in Dallas when the fire broke out. He returned to Houston to work with city officials and firefighters. Desai attributed the fire to accident rather than intent.
“I believe what triggered the fire was a natural act of God or causes because of heat and friction,” he told KPRC 2. When pressed about the tax lawsuit, Desai said the company’s taxes are current except for 2025.
Houston Fire Department arson investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. HFD said arson investigators respond as standard procedure to establish a cause before any determination can be made about whether a fire was intentional.
