Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Hellfighters to tread where EPA feared water would go
Texas crews to break up giant tire fire and smother it

To catch any potential toxic runoff,a clay-lined retention pond is being built on the property.

By KIMBERLY O'BRIEN
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   For more than a week, Roanoke County firefighters have been letting the massive tire fire off Starlight Lane burn.

    That decision was a good one, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials have said, because it prevented toxic runoff that could have resulted from spraying water on the burning rubber.

    But now, officials said Monday, it's time to put out the fire. So within a few days, a Texas-based fire control company will start doing that. The EPA has hired Williams Fire & Hazard Control, which specializes in extinguishing industrial fires including those from tires, landfills and oil tanks.

    The company has handled about a half-dozen tire fires, including one near Modesto, Calif., in 1999, said executive vice president Randy Williams.

    "We're at the point ... we want to try and take the next step," Joey Stump, division chief for the Roanoke County Fire and Rescue Department, said during a news conference Monday afternoon.

    The tire fire started March 23 on W.J. Keeling's property in southern Roanoke County after being ignited by a brush fire that officials said was deliberately set. Firefighters contained the brush fire on Buck Mountain at 1,064 acres within a few days, but the tire fire continues to burn.

    There are still no suspects in the arson, authorities said Monday.

    The EPA took the lead in managing the tire fire Wednesday, committing $500,000 in Superfund money with the possibility of more. EPA on-scene coordinator Chris Wagner said Monday that more money had been approved, but she didn't have the figure available because she had been at the fire site all day.

    The EPA had asked for up to $1.2 million.

    Some of that money will go to Williams Fire & Hazard Control, which expects to begin extinguishing the fire within the next few days. Crews will break up the fire into smaller pieces, then put it out with a mixture of water and foam. There are four major piles of burning tires out of about 20 on site.

    The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has estimated the number of tires on the site at 3 million to 4 million, making Keeling's property the largest illegal tire dump in the state. Monday, Wagner said the estimate might be closer to 2 million, although she still can't say for sure.

    Many of the tires are burning underground and in ravines. In some places, the tires are 20 feet deep, Wagner said.

    Throughout the weekend, crews worked to establish access to the property while continuing to gauge the extent of the tires, which are smoldering on about 6 acres of Keeling's land. Representatives of the Texas company began arriving Saturday and will need a few more days to set up, Wagner said.

    The EPA has used the Texas company at least twice before and expects to have it on scene for three to four weeks, Wagner said. The cleanup process will continue during that time as crews remove debris from the property.

    The DEQ, meanwhile, will remove unburned tires from the property as part of its previous agreement with Roanoke County. Before the fire, Keeling had signed a contract with the DEQ and the county to remove the tires. The DEQ had been prepared to spend $1.4 million, and some of that money is still available.

    There are between 1,000 and 3,000 unburned tires spread out on the property, Norman Auldridge, deputy regional director for the DEQ's Roanoke office, said Monday.

    Air quality in neighborhoods near the tire dump is still within acceptable ranges, Auldridge also said Monday. And runoff so far hasn't been a problem. To catch any potential runoff when the extinguishing process begins, a clay-lined retention pond is being built on the property.

    It's still not certain how long the EPA will be at the site. Wagner has estimated 90 days for emergency response, but that could change, and nothing's been said yet about long-term testing.

    "We're just getting to the first phase now," Wagner said. "We're going to get the fire out."

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