Barbara A. Martindale- For What It's Worth May 28, 2013
It seems like yesterday, yet it was 23 years ago when it was reported to be "the biggest blaze of its kind ever to hit the province.”
What began on Monday morning at 1:15 a.m. February 12, 1990 was battled for 17 days until the end of February. Yes, the tire fire at Tyre King Recycling dump was a media opportunity for the sensational story. Newspaper front page large headlines stated "Hagersville area under siege- fire nightmare.” Before long, the world knew about the blazing inferno in Hagersville.
The estimated 13 million rubber tires on fire within a 20-acre site on the 13th Concession west of Hagersville drew 100 fire fighters from 11 stations across Haldimand-Norfolk working day and night. They started using water and a special foam, then a front end loader to separate the unburned tires from the burning ones.
Smoke was seen 50 miles away, at first travelling south over Lake Erie and later heading toward Hagersville. The Ministry of the Environment was on the scene with a mobile air monitoring vehicle.
Women in the area were preparing and serving food to tired fire fighters with help from area church groups and business. People in the area surrounding the Tyre King fire fled their homes to escape fumes.
"Flames of negligence- it's Ontario's fire" brought one newspaper report to say the provincial government is right to take charge of the firefighting and the environmental aftermath.
The article claimed the whole of Haldimand-Norfolk couldn't produce 13 million used tires and that the tires came from all over. Besides, the provincial government recognized the tire dump as a danger in 1986 when it advised owner Edward Straza to make safety improvements.
There were three years of hearings and waiting for court dates instead of government stepping in to eliminate the danger, said the report. Another blamed the $5 per tire tax designed to raise $40 million annually to help fund used tire disposal programs and research into innovative tire recycling methods. The provincial treasurer passed the question as to why the program was not in place onto the Ministry of Environment who said the money hadn't been allocated.
Ministry of Natural Resources forest-fire fighters were brought in to assist the local volunteer fire fighters. The natural resources crew started assaulting the flames February 21. Aerial water bombers swooped down to drop their loads of some 1,200 gallons of water. At times, freezing temperatures forced cancellation of bombing runs.
But a week later, the headline declared, "Hagersville tire fire is out- now the cleanup begins.”
Firefighters were given accolades for their long hours; businesses, restaurants and individuals who pitched in to give food and support to the on-site firefighters were thanked. T-shirts with "We survived the tire fire Hagersville 1990” were a hot item.
The human factor gave reporters their stories. What was on the first day "the biggest blaze of its kind ever to hit the province,” the immense size and longevity of the tire fire inferno got attention as "North America's largest tire fire" once it was out.
