Posted on 07/20/2005 4:41:47 AM PDT by Libloather
1 million tires catch on fire in Wis.
July 20, 2005
WATERTOWN, Wis. -- A massive fire erupted in a huge pile of tires at a recycling plant Tuesday, sending black smoke billowing for miles and forcing roads to be closed while firefighters tried to contain the blaze.
The fire ignited in about 1 million tires at the Watertown Tire Recycling Co., said Lt. Doug Ninmann of the Dodge County Sheriff's Department.
No one was injured and the cause wasn't determined, but people within a mile's radius were warned to take shelter if the smoke becomes too intense, he said. Firefighters had been at the seen since 10 a.m., he said.
An inspector from the state Department of Natural Resources said she was at the plant meeting with owner Thomas Springer when the fire started.
''I was in his office making a compliance check when someone ran in and yelled, 'fire,''' Barb Palecek said. ''We called 911 and it was mayhem.''
There were 14 to 16 fire departments from the area helping to battle the blaze, and about 30 tanker trucks were hauling water from nearby Watertown. AP
Emergency personnel try to contain a fire at a tire recycling company, Tuesday, July 19, 2005, in Watertown, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Libs all over the country are fretting nervously as Armageddon comes closer.
/S
1 Million Tires.
Can someone do the math here. How high would the pile have to be? How wide, how long?
This is HUGH!!!
I'll see your one Marshmallow,
and raise you 3-toasty-firestone-tires.
/Grin
I wonder how many are SUV tires.
Man, those things don't give up easily, either.
Recycling. . .or just storing or ignoring?
Whatever; seems they may have been behind schedule.
Wait until the next White-House press conference.
There is certain to be an Berkley undergraduate asking stupid Q's again.
I've got money on it.
Was Winnie Mandela anywhere near?
Obviously Karl Rove started the tire fire to draw attention away from Rove-rage-gate....
I wanna know who had count them
"The Springfield Tire Fire"
(anyone else here ever play the "Simpson's Hit 'n Run" game?)
LQ
Is Winnie Mandela visiting?
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul05/342249.asp
Difficult problem because the tires at the bottom of the pile will be compressed to greater density by the weight of those above. But hey, I'll make a WAG:
Rough estimates show the volume of material in an average tire is on the order of 0.2 cubic feet. 0.2 times 1 million equals 100,000 cubic feet. If all of the tires were compressed until there were no voids among them, they would fill a cube with dimensions of 46.4 feet on each side. The cube would be the minimum possible size of the pile -- you'll have to take it from there because there are lots of voids among the pile of tires.
ping
That fire will burn forever. Tire fires are hard to put out.
I gotta get another cup of coffee and find my meds....
Wisconsin poing.
I live about 35 miles from there and could see the smoke.
The video was quite a sight on last night's local news.
I'll echo a previous post. For a so-called tire "recycling" operation, it's a shame someone allowed the process to get so far behind schedule.
If it's been anything like it's been here in Iowa, the sun has been baking these BLACK tires relentlessly in 90+ degree weather for two weeks or more without any relief from rainfall.
Now, I'm no scientist but, how about spontaneous combustion?
It's going to rain on thetires today. I don't think it'll be enough to douse the fire, though. We are in Milwaukee and we had no problem seeing the smoke from here. The whole sky had a blackish tint all day yesterday.
All it takes is a reflective surface anywhere near those tires and you could probably get enough heat from the magnified sun to start the fire. A neighbor had some glass setting along his garage near a window. By coincidence, when the sun was just right both the glass and the garage window bounced light to the same place where the sun was shining on some wood. It seemed to have cought on fire but didn't spread.
Let's toast the Michelin Man.
Is the plant right on the edge of Watertown? If not, how far out and in what directions. We have lots of friends that work at the college there and was wondering how close to Maranatha Baptist Bible College it is?
---Was Winnie Mandela anywhere near?----
Ouch!!
or "Slick" Willie?....
I wonder how long it took the committee to decide that. Where do they go to get china? Or funk?
About 200,000 cubic feet or 1 acre 45 feet high.
The space is closer to 300 cu. in./tire and they won't compress much when stacked because of the stiffening cords; in a previous life, I did some tire-busting.
If they squeeze down when stacked, you wouldn't want them on your car.
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/11/10504/html/intro/ploblems.htm,
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/11/10504/html/biblio/problems/prt9.txt
Thanks for the enlightenment. 300/1728 = 0.174 cubic feet or only 0.026 cubic feet less than my WAG. :>)
The box is: 20" high x 2(20")wide x 5(6")long.
Once it's out I'd be chacking for 'remains'
But this never should happen in the first place.
Refineries, etc. have to have high tech fire fighting equipment & foam in place, these tire whores are no different in terms of fire danger.
Nitrogen encased foam can stop this type of fire easily.
Without exception, every one can be traced to a payoff of gov. official to stay in biz.., it's an ongoing criminal enterprise that needs to end.
1 Million Tires.
When I was traveling the boonies in Mongolia, I noticed quite a few tires along the road. I commented that we don't have a lot of trash like that on the road back in the USA.
He explained that those old tires served a good purpose. If you broke down in the wilderness, you went and got a tire, drained some gas out of the vehicle and sent up a smoke signal for some one to come rescue you.
Lots of smart people in Mongolia.
1 million tires catch on fire in Wis.
Who counted them? The same people who counted the million man march.
Yes, and they all came from the Lexus, Navigator and downtrodden Mercedes drivers that attended. They being the tires of course, for reasons of grammatical precision.
Oh, the poor, masses that need a hand up.
Spare me.
Thanks for the link here. Incredible. . .the rest of this story is as interesting and pertinent; as the beginning; guess the media is just occupado; needed those extra three minutes for more Karl Rove or Mary Kay Laterno. Not to mention it could cloud public opinion - and even give recycling a bad name.
This operation/disaster certainly has used up some resources. . .
. . .but let's move on. . .move on. . .
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