JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A rubbish pile fire at a Northside recycling facility that was burning for hours Tuesday caused some concern about air quality in the area because the pile is mostly made of ground-up tires.
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Atlantic Can Inc., which is on the southeast corner of the I-295 junction with Main Street, recycles construction products and provides waste tire removal, demolition and other recycling services.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Capt. Eric Prosswimmer explained that because tires burn hot, they can be very difficult to extinguish.
“When this rubber gets going, it’s very difficult to put out. You can put copious amounts of water on it, but it burns deep and it retains that heat,” Prosswimmer said. “It burns very hot and produces a lot of dark black smoke so anybody driving by who sees dark black smoke, that’s what it is.”
That smoke is definitely a concern for those living nearby.
“The issue that we’re dealing with right now is that we’ve been very fortunate with the winds. It’s not a very windy day,” Prosswimmer said, adding that no evacuations are planned at this time. “If the wind shifts, that’s another matter that we want to deal with. This isn’t smoke that you want to inhale.”
The fire sparked some time around midnight and by noon, the pile had burned down significantly but was still so thick that JFRD opted to call in its heavy equipment team to start dismantling the pile.
The thick plume of dark smoke carried a charred odor as it billowed from the scene, causing concerns about air quality.
MORE: How to sign up for City of Jacksonville air quality notifications
“We definitely want to stay on top of what’s happening with it just to make sure nobody is impacted around,” said City Councilman Mike Gay, who represents the area and was out at the scene Tuesday morning. “There are some homes to the east of it, so it’s really being alert, everybody staying tuned in to what’s going on for any kind of emergency alert.”
Powers said JFRD is trying to keep crews out of the toxic smoke, even with the equipment they have, and they have a crew on the north side of the fire, where the smoke is billowing, keeping an eye on air quality.
Adam Johnson was working in a neighborhood near Oceanway Elementary School early Tuesday morning, and parts of that neighborhood were covered in smog.
“I will [feel it] eventually, because I have asthma, so later on tonight, I’ll have to end up taking medicine for that,” Johnson said.
He said residents nearby could be told to shelter in place if the air quality gets too bad, but for now, that is not necessary.
Powers said 30 units were on the scene with about 75 personnel, and they will continue to work in six-hour shifts until the fire is out.
The area that was burning was a rubbish pile about 200 feet by 300 feet (a bit larger than a football field), and when the fire started it was 30 feet high.
“We’re doing the best we can. We’re working tirelessly. These guys have been working literally all night long,” Prosswimmer said. “If the wind shifts and the smoke’s coming your way, try to avoid it at all possible costs.”
WATCH: Press play below to see Prosswimmer’s full live interview on The Morning Show
A woman who saw the property go up in flames from her apartment complex just down the road described the scary moments to News4JAX.
“At first it was large, and I thought it was a little odd to see a burn not in a rural area but in the city,” Sasha Mincey said. “And then within 10 to 20 minutes, it went times five in size. It was scary. The fireballs were flying into the air, something was feeding it, it was not going away any time soon. It just kept getting bigger and bigger.”
Powers explained that because the fire is so large, the heavy equipment team will come in and take off a layer at a time, spreading it out over an area that can be thoroughly wetted down, and then do the same with the next layer.
The process could take hours more, Powers warned.