GENERAL46371

• Permit No: M1977208
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 12/10/2002
• Doc Name: Literature: Tire Fire Contingency Plan
• From: CEMEX Inc.
• To: DMG
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

PREFACE
Safe, practical management of waztc tires is a problem facing almost every community in our
country. An estimated 164 million tires per year are discarded across the United States, the
vazt majority of which usually end up along roadsides, in landfills or stockpiled. Each of these
disposal methods haz iu own set of disadvantages; however, by faz the greatest threat from any
of these options is the potential for stockpiled tires to catch on fire. Afire fire can result in
significant envuonmenral damage and poses a health risk to responding fire fighters and to
nearby residents. Additional health risks exist due to other unknown sources of contamination
azsociated with fire piles (e.g., wheels, lead weighu, hazardous materials, etc.).
The best method to reduce threau from a fire fire to the environment and human health is to be
prepared. Plans regarding fire fire management from a fire fighter's perspective have been
written and can be accessed through local emergency service agencies and fire departments.
This document takes response planning one step further, and assists health agencies in
responding to the envtronmental health issues associated with a fire Pse.
This document is divided into five sections, each of which explains the environmental health
issues related to a typical fire fire incident. Section I reviews the current data on fire fire
emissions and selects a subset of target chemicals that could be sampled during a tine fine. A
discussion of exposure pathways is also included. Section II describes air monitoring methods
and specifically discusses sampling methods for the target chemicals. Section III focuses on
surface water and ground water contamination that can result from a fire fire and describes the
sampling methods that may be used to assess such contamination. Section N addresses
personal protective equipment and safety planning. Section V provides a general discussion of
how to effectively communicate with the media and the public about the risks associated with a
Lire fire incident. It also gives three sample health fact sheen (tazgeted toward the media,
public, and fire fighters) developed for a hypothetical fire fire. These fact sheets could be used
az a template and adapted for an actual fire fue.
Wherever tires are stockpiled, whether there are several hundred or several million, the threat
of a tine fire exists. A health agency must be prepared for a fire fire in order to minimize the
environmental health risks. This document will assist health agency planning and response to
the environmental health issues associated with a tine fire. This document is not meant to be a
final contingency plan for every fire fire, rather it provides a framework that can be adapted
for a site specific plan as needed.