Fire at tyre dumping yard, three buses gutted

A major fire broke out at a tyre dumping yard near T R Mills in Chamarajpet in the City on Sunday evening, gutting three private buses parked nearby.

As many as 14 fire tenders and several firemen battled for nearly five hours to douse the flames. A thick black smoke hovered over many parts of Chamarajpet after the incident. The Fire and Emergency Services officials said that the open space, where scrapped tyres were dumped, was completely gutted. 

More than 40,000 damaged tyres were dumped in the area and the space was also rented out as a parking place for scores of private buses, the officials said. It is suspected that some miscreants might have lit a single tyre on fire, which spread to the heap of tyres and the buses which were parked nearby, they added.

A fire officer said that a few children, who were playing cricket nearby, noticed thick smoke billowing out of the yard and informed the people working at the nearby godowns, who in turn alerted the police and fire officials at 4.30 pm. 

“By the time the fire tenders reached the spot, the flames had engulfed the entire yard. Initially, two fire tenders reached the spot, but could not control the fire. So another 14 were deployed. It took more than five hours to douse the fire,” the official added.

Fortunately, there were no causalities. Annamalai, owner of a godown, said that the open space was used to dump damaged tyres that were later sent to factories which recycled the tyres to manufacture shoes, belts, wallets and other rubber products. “If tyres are found in good condition, then they are sent for re-building,” he added.

No single owner of yard

The damaged or used tyres are usually bought by scrap dealers from tyre shops. There is no single owner of the dump yard and it is managed by many people, who are involved in the tyre scrap business, said Malik Hussain, a scrap dealer. 

A police official said that no one had come forward to lodge a complaint and the police were looking for the people in charge of the dumping yard.