JFRD monitoring air quality while battling massive fire at North Jacksonville tire recycling center

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Crews have been working to contain a fire at a tire recycling center in Eastport in North Jacksonville since early Tuesday morning.

Jacksonville City Council member Mike Gay, who represents the area, went to the fire location after seeing people talking about it on social media. He said the call came in around midnight at the facility, Atlantic Can Recycling, 11985 Palm Lake Drive.

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Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Chief Keith Powers said the fire is a pile of ground-up tires that is about 200 to 300 feet and was about 30 feet tall.

Powers said 30 units and 75 personnel are responding, and that will continue for the next several hours. He said they would be rotating crews out every six hours “until we get a handle on it.”

Gay said Tuesday morning that fire crews had to pump water from a nearby apartment complex and drive it back to the fire.

Powers said Tuesday afternoon that firefighters now had what they needed in terms of water supply.

“We just had to get a couple other supply lines in here, and then ask JEA to bump the pressure up for us, which they did,” Powers said.

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Powers said heavy equipment crews are working to get to the fire, and Florida Forest Service and the city’s Public Works Department are assisting.

“The problem with this is the pile is so big and so thick, and the fire has burned down into the pile, that we’ve got to get down to it,” Powers said.

Powers said JFRD has not started using any foam to wet the fire. He said that the foam does not create a toxic smoke, but JFRD has asked the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to be on scene out of an abundance of caution.

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Powers said that while some crews are fighting the fire, others are monitoring air quality, as the smoke is toxic.

“We have got air quality monitoring crews that are stationed on the north side of 295 up there that are monitoring the air quality. We have not found anything up there that’s of any concern to us. We’ve got some up there around the elementary school and all that, just to make sure that everybody’s safe,” he said.

If there were air quality concerns, Powers said JFRD would ask people to either move or shelter in place.

Fire at Jacksonville tire recycling center could take days to put out

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