STORY HEADLINE: Tire fire rages in Mission Valley - 'Environmental nightmare'
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Yesterday, a tire recycling facility caught fire, burning for many hours and releasing toxic petroleum-based fumes into the air. In the story, officials express concern about the potential health and environmental impacts on the local area and its residents.

THINK ABOUT IT:
What are tires made of and what happens when they burn? Why are officials concerned about the fumes? Why did emergency workers stop trying to put out the fire? How might the tire fire affect the local environment? Why will this fire likely affect both air and water quality? How did that affect local residents immediately? Might there be any further health concerns in the near future? Why was an Environmental Protection Agency official called to the scene? In what other ways, either directly or indirectly, does motor vehicle manufacturing, use, recycling and waste contribute to pollution in the environment?

RELATED LINKS:
The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act:
http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/peg_caa/pegcaain.html

Missoula Environmental Air Quality Measure:
http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/measures/air.htm

The Common Air Pollutants:
http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/peg_caa/pegcaa11.html#topic11

Motor vehicle pollution - environmental quiz:
http://www.epa.gov/students/motor_vehicles_and_air_pollution.htm

Terms of Environment - A student's dictionary:
http://www.epa.gov/students/dictiona.htm

Air Quality Topics - Tools for Schools:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/eco/iaq/index.html

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Tire fire rages in Mission Valley: 'Environmental nightmare'

By DARYL GADBOW of the Missoulian

In effort to protect water, decision made to let it burn

Firefighters use a combination of water and foam Tuesday afternoon to battle a fire at the Tire Depot, a tire recycling facility north of Pablo. The fire, burning millions of tires, is expected to take days to extinguish. Photo by KURT WILSON/Missoulian

PABLO - A billowing cloud of toxic black smoke from millions of burning tires hung over the Mission Valley from Ronan to Polson Tuesday.

Throughout the afternoon, more than 70 firefighters and emergency personnel, and 16 fire trucks, from Polson, Ronan, St. Ignatius and Finley Point battled a blaze that broke out at the Tire Depot, a tire recycling plant located a mile north of Pablo on Highway 93.

Late Tuesday afternoon, however, fire officials decided to stop pouring water and foam onto the massive pit of burning tires because of concern that their efforts could cause further environmental damage.

"We've got a new strategy," said Polson Fire Chief Tom Maloney at about 5 p.m., approximately four hours after the fire was reported by workers at Tire Depot. "We're going to let it burn. We don't want to pollute the groundwater. The oil or petroleum-based product that tires are made from is the concern we have. This is going to be an environmental nightmare because of toxic material going into the groundwater."

A representative from the federal Environmental Protection Agency was en route to the scene to assess the environmental situation, Maloney said.

No injuries were reported from either the fire or the heavy smoke. But officials from the Lake County Office of Emergency Management and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes notified residents within a two-square mile area near Pablo of a voluntary evacuation.

Approximately 1,000 residents were contacted by emergency officials and warned about the risks of the toxic smoke, according to Sgt. Grant Holle of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

"EPA said that a cool evening may make the smoke go down to the ground and go into their houses," said Dick Giffin of the county emergency management team. "We told them if they couldn't stand it, they could go to a Red Cross evac center at the Polson Middle School."

A spokesman from the Red Cross said about a dozen people showed up at the shelter Tuesday but didn't remain, saying they would stay with family or friends. The Red Cross planned to keep the shelter open through the night, according to the sheriff's office.

Despite the efforts of virtually every firefighter in the valley, according to Maloney, the Tire Depot business was nearly a total loss.

"Safety is paramount here," he said. "There were some pretty impressive explosions. There were fuel tanks here, and acetylene tanks, all kinds of good stuff. It's been a good day: Everybody's safe."

The fire caused a plume of toxic black smoke that could be seen for miles in the Mission Valley. Photo by KURT WILSON/Missoulian

"But this was a loser from the get-go," added Maloney, who said he has helped fight fires at large tire disposal sites on three occasions in other parts of the country. "Tires are really stubborn. They burn with a lot of heat. And they preheat the other fuel nearby. Being petroleum-based, it just burns hotter, and you need lots and lots of water. There's a lot of documentation on how these burn. We're in a million dollar fire loss here. When all is said and done, it'll be over $1 million."

From his experience, Maloney said, large tire fires typically take at least several days to extinguish. Initially, fire officials planned to bring in excavators on Tuesday to smother the fire with dirt. But that plan was suspended until EPA officials have assessed the situation.

The fire was started about 12:45 p.m. by an electrical short in a building housing a tire-shredder machine, according to Vern Reum, owner of Tire Depot.

"It was lunch time," Reum said. "So nobody was in the building."

The business has been operating at the location for 14 years, he said. The plant shreds used tires to be recycled as road base, construction backfill and other uses.

Although he said he had no idea about the total monetary loss caused by the fire, Reum said two tire shredders were destroyed.

"That's a good half-million dollars right there," he said.

The fire was contained to an enormous pit where the tires were shredded and stored. Fire personnel estimated the size of the pit at approximately 400 yards wide and long. It was filled with tires and shredded tires to a depth of at least 40 to 50 feet, they said.

"Millions of tires," said Glenn Reum, Vern Reum's brother. "There are millions of tires in there. He's been hauling them from tire shops all over Washington, Oregon and Idaho. He's the only licensed tire recycler in the state of Montana."

Tire Depot was insured for about $2 million, according to Glenn Reum.

"But that's about what it's going to take to replace the business," he said.

Fire officials were concerned about the fire spreading to other nearby businesses, fields and homes, Maloney said.

Most of the homes in the area are located south of the fire, toward Pablo.

"The prevailing wind is from the north," Maloney said. "We're expecting a front to come in today, which is a concern, because of high winds, unpredictable weather."

Tire Depot is located adjacent to Highway 93, where traffic was slowed by the firefighting activity throughout the afternoon and evening.

"We considered rerouting traffic around the backroads," said Sgt. Holle. "But we didn't have to do that. The wind was in our favor."

Employees of Tire Depot were prevented from using some of their own fire-fighting equipment to stop the blaze because it was stored in the building that caught fire, according to Ronan Fire Chief Tom Bartel.

"I always wondered what would happen if this caught fire," said Ronan firefighter Kirk Bartel, son of the chief. "We always talk about it at our meetings. Now we'll find out."