August 31, 1999
Firefighters may have been under protected at tire fire
By Carol Bogart
Staff Writer
Ohio EPA, in charge of the Kirby Tire Recycling site for several months, apparently had no plan for responding fire departments in the event the tires caught fire.
Firefighters from 19 departments, the Wyandot County Sheriff's Department, Red Cross workers, fire department auxiliary members, local residents, even kids taking pictures were at the site as the fire raged. A federal OSHA standard adopted in 1998 calls working next to a burning tire fire "a very perilous place to be."
As far back as 1983, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Emergency and Remedial Response collected air samples at a Virginia tire fire.
The study noted that firefighters and "non-emergency responders" working in the area closest to the actual fire were required to wear "impervious suits with head covering, three-layer glove protection with taped wrist; boot coverings with taped ankles and supplied air breathing apparatus.
"Workers leaving the area were decontaminated thoroughly at the scene; some of the protective clothing was discarded ... "
In its report to Congress, the federal Fire Administration says, "... the toxicity of tire fires mandates the use of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) unless Fireground Commanders can ensure that firefighters are not exposed to IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health) environments.
"The smoke plume from the fire contains hazardous substances which should not be inhaled or allowed to contact the skin. Tire fires produce toxic products of combustion that are considered Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH).
"This requires that firefighters wear personal protective equipment (PPE), including self-contained breathing apparatus, to fight the fire or to manage the hazardous material incident safely.
"Because these toxic products of combustion almost certainly will contaminate other (protective equipment) used by firefighters, all (protective equipment) used should be decontaminated to prevent inadvertent exposures after the incident.
"During high burn rates, more than 50 potentially harmful organic compounds can be identified in test burn emissions."
OSHA identifies IDLH as "an atmosphere that poses an immediate threat to life, would cause irreversible adverse health effects, or would impair an individual's ability to escape from a dangerous atmosphere."
That report bothers the wife of a firefighter at the scene.
"If EPA knew this, I don't like this at all," Sharon Hosterman said. "They (the firefighters and others at the scene) really should have been told. It was all 19 departments, plus the auxiliary, plus the Red Cross from two counties, plus the sheriff's department. We didn't just expose our fellas." She says as far as she could tell, EPA workers worked unprotected, too.
"Past tire fires have required that residents in the surrounding areas be evacuated, and fire departments may need to plan for such evacuations," says the report to Congress.