MAYES County tire fire

Thursday, June 7th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A stack of illegally dumped tires was set on fire Wednesday night in far eastern Oklahoma. The fire came after complaints by neighbors about the tires, scattered in woods around their homes.

KOTV's Emory Bryan went to Spavinaw, in Mayes County. The fire burned hot, a smoky fire seen for miles around. A neighbor took some pictures, as the pile of tires burned through the night. The fire was still burning at midday Thursday. Pat Quick says "The pile of tires in a lot of places, 50 - 60 yards at a whack, was probably 8-12 foot high and 30-40 feet across." Even though the fire consumed about 5000 tires, there are any more tires in the woods around here. Neighbors have been trying to get these illegal dumps cleaned up for years. Pat Quick lives just down the road from the tires, now a tangled mess of steel belts. "It was a real bad situation for mosquitos, the rains come, the tires fill up with water, and it's a nice dark habitat where they can reproduce by the millions if not billions." The fire department plans to let the fire burn itself out, but believes it was deliberately set. No one saw the arsonist that started the fire.

The fire has nearly burned itself out. It also burned a trailer house that was abandoned, and surrounded by woods.