Westley Tire fire, Stanislaus county, California

Abstract

This is a case study of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emergency response actions taken at one of the largest tire fires in California. The site was an illegal scrap tire dump known as the Filbin Tire Pile. There was an estimated 7 million tires in the pile. The site was located in a canyon in the rolling hills above the San Joaquin Valley near the Town of Westley, California. This tire fire was considered a major environmental disaster where large populations were affected and there was a potential for severe environmental damage. Responders with past experience recognized that the tire fire would be a unique multicategory event containing the elements of a major fire: hazardous materials release and oil spill discharge combined into one event. Shortly after the fire Ignited the tires began to pyrolyze, producing a steady stream of oil that discharged to an unnamed drainage in the hills above the valley. The oil in the drainage flashed sending great plumes of thick black smoke into the valley. The oil and tire fires quickly overwhelmed the resources of the local fire departments. The EPA On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) immediately responded using federal authority to respond to and, if necessary, remove a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance under the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1321(c)) as amended by the Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990 (OPA 90). Some of the most difficult problems thatwere encountered included making decisions on fire suppression tactics: conducting safe operations in extremely hot and unstable fire conditions; maneuvering heavy equipment on steep slopes, and deep and spongy tire piles; controlling massive volumes of oil and water runoff; coordinating with local and state governmental agencies; forming a fully integrated and effective Incident Command System led by a Unified Command (ICS/UC); and recycling ofpyrolytic oil under current California hazardous waste regulations.