SOP 209.12
TIRE FIRES
OVERVIEW
Tire fires present the same potential threat to the environment that an
incident involving an oil tanker or a railroad tank car carrying hazardous
substances.
The average passenger car tire holds 2.5 gallons of oil. When exposed
to extreme heat the tires reach a state of combustion where volumes of
pyrolitic oil can be produced. This could turn the tire pile into a running oil
fire. Exposure hazards associated with the smoke plume, water runoff, and soil
include:
Volatile organic chemicals
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
Carbon monoxide
Heavy metals
These toxins can be absorbed either through the skin, mucus membranes,
or respiratory system.
The success of any fire suppression operation begins at the company
level. The company officer should familiarize his/her crew with all scrap tire
piles located within their area of response. Information gathered should be
entered into the tactical premise record for the specific locations allowing easy
access on the pre-plan file for the Incident Commander.
Areas of consideration should include:
Site location
Type of operation
- salvage or recycling
- managed or unmanaged
Tire piles composition
- whole
- burned
- shredded
- random stack
Tire pile size
Available equipment
Hazards
Exposures
Utilities
- overhead wires
- underground gas, electrical, or communication
Response conditions
Geographical information
Topography
Emergency contacts
DEPLOYMENT SERVICES
It is recommended that major tire fires be handled as hazardous
materials incidents. The incident taker will obtain all available information
from the caller to determine what's on fire. A full alarm assignment will be
dispatched if it is determined that a tire pile is on fire.
SIZE-UP
Upon arrival the company officer must determine the stage of combustion
the tire pile is in.
Incipient
Free burning
Smoldering
The incipient stage of a tire fire begins with a point of ignition.
Once a tire has gained an open flame front, the surrounding tire material
absorbs the heat of the fire. Immediately separating the burning tire from the
rest of the pile and/or applying water and foam would eliminate the threat to
the remaining tires.
During the free burning stage, fire spreads quickly and there is a
dramatic increase in smoke and heat. Use of water in this stage of a tire fire
could increase the products of incomplete combustion like carbon monoxide and
particulate matter. The cooled tires may continue to pyrolize, producing large
quantities of oil. A crust may form over the pile while internal temperatures
reach about 2,000 degrees fahrenheit. The smoldering stage has begun.
Oil not consumed by the fire will leach into the soil, pool, and begin to
flow under the pile. Heat from the fire could ignite the oil, resulting in a
three-dimensional fire. Products of incomplete combustion continue to be a
health hazard.
During the initial size-up, the company officer has to determine if the
fire can be extinguished quickly without endangering personnel. If the fire is
in the free burning or smoldering stage the most immediate concern will be the
life safety of firefighters and the community. Approach to the incident should
be in accordance with tactics common to other potential hazardous materials
incidents.
Initial size-up must evaluate the emergency in terms of:
Personnel safety
Public health
Environmental impact
Threatened exposures
Extent of fire
Need for additional resources
PERSONNEL SAFETY
Awareness of the hazards involved in a tire fire can be the best
personnel protection. Heat exhaustion and working in less than ideal conditions
is a reality in a large tire fire. Command will want to prepare for total
exposures, health hazards, and personal injury hazards.
Full turnout gear is the minimum level of protection required for
everyone working the tire fire.
Boots
Turnout pants
Turnout coat
Gloves
Helmet
Nomex hood
S.C.B.A.
|
NOTE: |
Surgical gloves under the leather gloves will give
added protection from contact with the contaminated water, oil, and mud. |
The risk of exposure to toxic chemicals continues after the fire is
out. Smoldering tires are as toxic as tires in a free burning state. Flying ash
and contaminated soil are also potential hazards. The temptation to dress down
for overhaul should be resisted until the hazardous materials team has
determined the appropriate level of protective clothing required.
Command will establish a Lobby Sector to ensure personnel
accountability. When multiple points of entry to the incident exist geographic
sectors should be established i.e., lobby north, lobby east, etc. Hazard
sectors, zones, and Rehab sector will be established according to the Standard
Operating Procedures.
The Incident Commander will establish a decontamination sector for all
personnel leaving the fire area. All protective clothing, firefighting
equipment, and apparatus will need to be decontaminated as well.
Sectors such as environmental, safety, PIO, and any other
sectors/branches listed under "Command Concerns" in this procedure
will be established as the incident progresses.
Personnel must be aware of other hazards involving scrap tire fires.
Contact with rodents, mosquitos, snakes, spiders, and scorpions will be reduced
with protective clothing.
Be aware of the dangers of machinery and heavy equipment operating on
the fire scene. Collapsing walls of tires can block escape routes or cut off
water supplies.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Command should determine early whether to evacuate the surrounding
areas. No strategy for managing the incident should bypass evacuation
considerations, since burning tires are extremely difficult to extinguish.
Evacuation Sector should be established early. The process will be
managed according to the Evacuation Sector procedure.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Command should size-up the potential environmental consequences of the
fire and begin notifying the appropriate agencies. Emergency contacts can be
notified according to the Environmental Sector procedure. Early notification
will facilitate their timely placement into the Command structure and
involvement in the incident.
Areas of concern will include:
Life safety
Proximity of wildlands
Potential toxic run-off
Bodies of water
Smoke plume
Wind direction/speed
TACTICS
Important tactical considerations include:
Life safety
Protecting exposures
Isolating burning tires
Use of heavy equipment
Overhead or underground utilities
Immediate evacuation of the incident scene is a high priority. Every
effort should address life safety of the incident scene. Protection of the fire
crews safety will be addressed continuously. RIC crews will be established according
to the Rapid Intervention Crew procedure. Buildings, equipment, and utilities
in the proximity of the fire will need to be protected. Command needs to
determine the amount of fuel actively burning and the total amount of fuel
available. Estimate the rate of spread to determine what will be allowed to
burn and where fire breaks will be cut through the pile.
Creating fire breaks in a large tire pile is a long and time consuming
process. It can be accomplished with heavy machinery and front-end loaders. Use
of City Equipment at Emergency Scenes procedure will allow Command to implement
the process.
STRATEGY
Successful options for fighting a tire fire have been employed
individually and in many cases, in combination with one another. Reduced to the
lowest common denominator, these options are:
Burn it
Bury it
Drown it
BURN IT
Letting a tire pile burn has its merits. Soil and water pollution may
be drastically reduced when many of the products of combustion go up in smoke.
The clean up costs can be reduced when compared to other options.
A precedent for the burn it strategy appears in fire responses to
chemical fires. Adding water to fires or hazardous materials that react to
water could exacerbate the emergency.
Importantly, the fire service must manage and control the burn.
Protecting exposures and separating tires from the burn area will continue to
be a tactical priority.
BURY IT
The decision to bury a tire pile also has merits. Sand, cement dust,
quick lime, and crushed coral rock are all high in calcium content. Calcium
scrubs sulfur from the emissions, creating calcium sulfate or gypsum.
The bury it strategy could be employed in areas that have
minimal water supply or in areas that are densely populated. The decision to
bury a tire fire would take into consideration reducing toxic smoke for the
sake of public health.
Geological considerations play an important role in the bury it
strategy. While the tire fire is entombed, fires can still pyrolize and push toxic
oil into the soil and underground water sources. Burying a tire fire that is on
top of clay soils may delay the oil from filtering to underground water
supplies. To determine the release of pyrolitic oil, check down gradient from
the pile for contamination.
DROWN IT
Water, foam, and additives have their own place as an option. The drown
it strategy is best employed with forethought and careful pre-planning.
Knowing in advance the topography and exposure hazards to water sources will be
critical.
Drawbacks to the drown it strategy include:
An increase in the toxic air emissions as the fire
is cooled causing the combustion process to slow down.
An inordinate amount of water run-off combined with pyrolitic oil will
be the result of trying to drown out a fire.
Effectiveness of working lines applied to a tire fire is questionable.
Handlines alone cannot reach the interior spaces of a tire fire.
The use of working lines on chunk and chipped tires, however, can be
effective when used in a fog application. Here again, separating the inventory
from the burn area is important to the control and extinguishment of chipped
and chunk tire materials.
The use of foam would best be employed on small tire fires or when the
fire is in the incipient stage. Pulling a larger tire pile apart with heavy
machinery and applying foam would be a prudent use of the product. Foam should
only be employed as part of a predetermined strategy.
CLEAN-UP AND OVERHAUL
Unlike traditional structural fires or wildland fires, clean-up on tire
fires will, in all probability, be turned over to an appropriate environmental
protection agency.
Hazards to personnel exist long after the fire is out. Toxicity levels
of tire fire sites suggest high concentrations of contaminates. Flying ash and
contaminated soil blown around the site may increase your exposure risks.
COMMAND CONCERNS
Scrap tire fires can potentially last days, weeks, or months. Combined
with the fact they are highly toxic and dangerous, Command must consider or
address the following concerns:
Emergency Operations Center
Emergency Operations Plan
Accountability
Rapid Intervention Crews
Safety Sector
Lobby Sector
Environmental Sector
Evacuation Sector
Public Information Sector
Welfare Sector
Police Liaison
Resource Sector
Rehabilitation Sector
Staging Sector
Hazardous Materials Sector
Evacuation Sector
Decontamination Sector
Air Operations
Water Department Communications Hazardous Materials
Incidents
Mutual Aid Response