By LINDSEY NAIR
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   Pointed questions and attempted reassurances were the order of the night Thursday at a meeting held to address concerns about the Roanoke County tire fire.

    Of the 50 to 60 people who showed up at the Cave Spring High School auditorium, the primary concern was health, particularly the effects the noxious fire will have on groundwater in the near and distant future.

    Officials from state and federal agencies started the meeting with an overview, then addressed what will happen from this point forward.

    Chris Wagner, with the Environmental Protection Agency, told the audience that it is not overly optimistic that the fire will be extinguished by April 30.

    Williams Fire & Hazard Control, which has been hired to break apart the burning tires and extinguish the fire beneath the surface, began work Thursday.

    Wagner said some sections of burning tires are at least 25 feet deep and that the temperature gauges maxed out several times Thursday at 900 degrees.

    One delay has been in gaining access to the fire, Wagner told the audience. Two major sections are being targeted. Workers refer to those sections as the "ravine fire" and the "L-shaped fire."

    Wagner said the hillside by the ravine is built on loose fill and the danger of heavy equipment falling through the deep, burning debris slows work.

    Norman Auldridge of the state Department of Environmental Quality and Karen Chaples of the state Department of Health tried to answer health questions.

    Gloria Hale, who lives in the heart of the smoke on Starlight Lane, said her family has suffered nosebleeds, headaches and other problems.

    Another Starlight Lane resident said that drainage ditches designed to catch runoff from the fire will not work forever. She worried that runoff would soak into the ground and eventually contaminate wells.

    Auldridge said his department has been monitoring both air and water. He said air samples have been "well within the acceptable level for health purposes."

    Wagner said that even though air samples came back normal, particulates can still cause discomfort. The health department receives results from air quality monitoring each day and has issued advisories three times since the fire began.

    On those days, people with health problems were advised to stay inside and not to exercise outdoors. Chaples said a few people were seen at hospitals because of the smoke.

    She said 16 water samples were taken from various wells after the fire. Five have come back. ll were normal.

    One man in the audience asked why the samples had not been taken since heavy rains fell March 26, potentially causing more runoff. The officials said they did not know but promised they would continue to take water samples for months or even years to come.

    As the two-hour meeting drew to a close, questions became more accusatory.

    Residents asked why it took the county so long to clean up the site. County Administrator Elmer Hodge said the county has worked on the issue for 15 years, but money for the project was available only a few months ago.

    Some hard feelings toward W.J. Keeling, the owner of the illegal tire dump, were apparent.

    Hale wondered whether the county would foot the bill for doctor visits, and Hodge admitted it would not. Then, Hale asked whether the county felt liable for the fire.

    "No, I think we feel regret," Hodge answered. "It's one of those regrettable things."

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