Canada Tire Fire Threatens Ecology, Greenpeace Says
An intense fire in a giant pile of tires in southern Ontario is releasing oil and toxic chemicals that could make the blaze one of North America’s biggest ecological disasters, environmental groups warned today.
The fire has been burning for more than a week in a pile of 14-million tires that is 25-feet tall and covers an area the size of three city blocks.
It is spewing thick black smoke into the air and leaking oily deposits into rivers and creeks surrounding Hagersville, a town about 50 miles south of Toronto.
“It is a disaster of huge environmental proportions that will have a major impact on air quality and the quality of surface and ground water,” said Jay Palter of Greenpeace.
A tire fire in Winchester, W.Va., about half the size of the fire in Hagersville, burned for a year from 1983 to 1984.
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