GLUCKSTADT, MISS– Big 10 Tires and Wheels in Gluckstadt burned last night in a fire that took multiple fire units and hours to fight.
What made this fire so intense and hard to battle was the presence of tires and cars in the shop, says Madison County Emergency Management Director Butch Hammack.
“The fire was well over seven hundred degrees,” says Hammack, “from the time we got the call, it took about two hours to get it under control.”
Hammack says that tires and cars made this fire a difficult one to fight.
“With tires and cars you get more heat,” says Hammack, “and when the tires burn, that puts off carbon minoxide, and carbon minoxide takes the oxygen out of the room.”
This poses a threat to firefighters. Even though they are equipped with gear, a blaze that hot and suffocating can still pose a threat.
“With those turnout suits, they get pretty hot,” says Hammack, “but even with those, we have to give them breaks, make sure they aren’t too hot, keep them hydrated.”
Hammack says that firefighters from Madison, Gluckstadt, and Canton were called to the scene, with 20 firefighters working desperately to contain the flames.
“We had to get the ladder truck to take the flames from the top,” says Hammack.
Even though burning tires is bad for the environment, Hammack says there’s no danger to people in the surrounding area who may have smelled the smoke.
“When it was contained in that building, yes, it’s a risk,” says Hammack, “but once we got it open, the building ventilated, the risk dropped.”
The heat of that fire was so intense, that the investigation into what started the fire cannot start just yet.
“The steel gets weak with that heat, and the bricks,” says Hammack, “that building is going to fall, it’s just a matter of when.”
Hammack says the site is still too hot for people to be allowed in, and with the danger of collapse, it’s not worth risking lives to start the investigation. Soon though, they’ll have answers, and Big 10 will be forced to start over, starting first by tearing down the building.
Here’s a video of the fire provided by Madison County Emergency Management:
