MW Horticulture apologizes to nearby business, denies claims of code violations

Reporter: Michael Hudak Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
MW Horticulture fire (Credit: WINK News Drone)

The owners of MW Horticulture have issued an apology to neighbors as the fight to put out a fire there enters its second week.

Smoke and flames started rising at MW Horticulture’s southern site off Old US-41 in Lee County on April 10.

People who live and work around here say after nine days, the smoke’s seeped inside where there’s no escape.

The San Carlos Fire District said the fire is still buried underneath some of the mounds of mulch.

Water can wash away a lot of problems. It can cool a fire. It can clear the smoke.

“It’s not fair. I’m done. The companies around here are done,” said Donna Wilkinson, office manager for Reliable Pest Control.

Water can’t cure Wilkinson’s emphysema. “And that company doesn’t care about nobody but themselves. And we’re over it. We suffered enough,” said Wilkinson.

She suffers because the smoke from the MW Horticulture fire has seeped into her office.

“Inside of the office. The smoke smell and everything was so bad. The smoke was so unbearable, that we were coughing,” said Wilkinson.

Raj Varshay, The owner of Suncoast Furniture, drove up to the WINK News crew at the fire to stick up for the pregnant woman in her office.

“We have ladies working here. They are pregnant! All kinds of things and this dust! And they don’t care about anybody,” said Wilkinson.

The owner of MW Horticulture, Denise Houghtaling, said in a lengthy Facebook post that she cares. You can read her complete statement here:

From the heart.

I want to first apologize to the local community who have had to deal with the smoke and traffic issues. It’s not been a good situation due to high winds, low humidity and the very high fire season we are in. Mulch yards are prone to fires. You can read any article and find that out. Every mulch yard has caught fire. You may not hear of those because some of them are illegal sites and are reported as forest fires etc. but the Buckingham community knows what I’m referring to.

MW has trained staff to mitigate these issues and my husband received smoke inhalation while trying to put out the fire. He is recovering but still has symptoms and in time we expect a full recovery.

Let me just say the news has been reporting fake news with regards to the issues surrounding our business.

The County has NO code violations against our south yard. We are NOT under a Cease-and-Desist order. They have not found us guilty of working without a license. The DEP had a case against us, but we WON, and they Voluntarily dismissed the case. They re-filed basically the same exact case which is pretty much double jeopardy and since we already won against them in circuit court, we anticipate winning against them again. The Fire Dept just put a stop on intake order on April 6 which we fully complied with, but they did not stop us from processing material, selling material or working the yard.

We employ some great men and women who have remained loyal to Mark and I and who stand and fight alongside of us every day. Working at MW is not for the faint of heart. And we want to thank them very much.

We have made some mistakes. We are not saying we aren’t to blame but we provide a much-needed service to the entire community. Those that hate us are probably using our services inadvertently. Those that hate us don’t know the facts.

The county started this mess 4 years ago when they dumped the hurricane material on us and then didn’t help us but instead came after us. It’s all coming out in our multimillion-dollar suit against the county.

I Never said I wouldn’t pay any fines. We have always done our best to handle all issues that come our way. Maybe not the speed others expect but in due time. We are residents of this community since 1973. It’s our home. We have 4 generations living here. We take pride in our community and have always been the first ones to offer help and we will continue to do so.

I understand why there are some that are upset with us and again I apologize. This has been the worse fire we’ve ever had. Please understand we are working around the clock with the fire dept to get the fire out. We have all the trained manpower and equipment in place and are doing everything we safely can, but the safety of our team and the fire fighters come first.

My attorney has advised me to not speak but I could no longer allow the media to damage our reputation and spew lies about our company.

If there is anyone who would like to speak to me directly, please message me here or email me at deniseisgreen@aol.com.

Houghtaling apologized to the community and all who have had to deal with the smoke and traffic issues. She then called all of the media “fake news,” and claimed the property is not violating any codes, and wrote, “Those who hate us don’t know the facts.”

The owner of Suncoast Furniture said they are sick of the fire and have lost business as a result, and Suncoast Furniture isn’t alone.

“They’re (MW Horticulture) not losing money. We’re losing money. And it’s not fair to us,” said Wilkinson.

Houghtaling said her attorney told her not to talk to the media and referred us to her attorney when we emailed her a list of questions. WINK News reached out to Houghtaling’s attorney but has not heard back.

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