Thirteen firefighting crews respond to the tire fire in Amberley

A tire fire in North Canterbury spewed toxic black smoke into the sky, which can be seen from at least 45 kilometers away.

The emergency services were notified at 3.10 pm on Friday of a tire fire at Racecourse Road, Amberley.

A spokesperson for the New Zealand Fire and Emergency Organization (FENZ) said that nearby residents and those caught up in the wind were advised to close their doors and windows.

Finns said 13 firefighters – from Amberley, Ibarra, Woodend, Wikari, Sifton, Rangora and a command unit from Christchurch – were at the site of the fire, which generated “dense black smoke.”

Read more:
* Company manager fined for failing to remove a pile of North Canterbury tires
* The company director was found guilty of not removing the pile of tires in North Canterbury
* The homeowner set fire to the pile of tires after a futile battle to remove them
* Environment Canterbury re-evaluates remaining tires in North Canterbury stock

Smoke can be seen billowing into the sky from as far away as central Christchurch – 45 km away.

Horonoy County Council said the racecourse road was closed due to the fire.

“Residents are advised … to consider their emergency and evacuation plan in the unlikely event that evacuation is necessary.”

The council urged people to move away from the area and “let the emergency services do their job.”

The Canterbury County Health Board (CDHB) has also issued a public warning about the fire and how burning tires produce sulfur dioxide.

The general warning said that sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems such as bronchitis and irritate a person’s nose, throat, and lungs.

“It may cause coughing, wheezing, phlegmatic attacks, and asthma,” CDHB said.

Dr Ramon Pink, the Canterbury medical officer, urged people to close their doors and windows.

The huge pile of tires on the racetrack road, Amberley, was the way to goSubject to implementation procedures since 2016. It has not been removed yet.

Last year, Christchurch County Courthouse sentenced the owner of the Amberley home, Gary Robert Gremer, 62, to nine months in prison after he admitted he set fire to the pile in February 2018.

Grimmer’s offense was the culmination of a long and futile battle to remove the mound from the yard across from his home.

The yard contained a pile of frames: one with about 400,000 frames and the other smaller, with about 20,000 frames. Grimmer set fire to the smaller pile.

In December, Annexure Services Ltd Director Peter George Benden He was fined $ 36,000 by the Environment Court for violating a court order By not removing the tire.

He also ordered $ 20,000 to be paid for the Canterbury Environment (ECan) expenses for removing the tires.

Between 120,000 and 160,000 tires are still in Amberley Square. ECan intends to transfer the tires to a shredding facility, and then the tire chips will be transported to a cement company.