Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 14, 1990 TAG: 9005140061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: CANA LENGTH: Medium
Firefighters from Carroll County and North Carolina battled the stubborn tire-dump fire and evacuated residents for a half-mile radius to avoid toxic smoke.
Ralph J. "Bob" Martin Jr., chairman of the Carroll County Board of Supervisors and the county's emergency services coordinator, said he was declaring the fire a disaster.
County Administrator Clinton Swain said the designation would help obtain reimbursement for some of the emergency materials that had to be used.
A caller to the Cana Fire Department about 12:30 a.m. Saturday reported that the fire was in a building, Chief M.C. Marsh said. But "we got down there and it was an old tire dump where they'd piled up tires in it for years." He said the blaze appeared to have been set.
Marsh said reports of old drums having been dumped among the tires concerned the firefighters because nobody knew what was in them. Emergency equipment including bulldozers were rushed to the scene to battle the fire.
Traffic on U.S. 52 was stopped from shortly after midnight Saturday until about mid-afternoon because of the heavy smoke. It was also about 3 p.m. before people were allowed to return to their homes in the area. The departments also had to work to block off tire-contaminated water from flowing into Lovill's Creek.
Eight departments - Cana and Hillsville from Carroll County and the rest from North Carolina - worked to bring the fire under control.
Emergency crews had to work to keep water runoff from getting into nearby Lovill's Creek.
by CNB