Firefighters battle Ravenna tire blaze

By Colin McEwen

Record-Courier staff writer

The smell of noxious rubber fumes and plumes of black smoke permeated the air around Cleveland Road in Ravenna Township, as firefighters battled a blaze of burning tires Thursday afternoon.

The Ravenna Township Fire Department received a call at 12:53 p.m. of burning tires at 6608 Cleveland Road, at the Fatboy's Dream scrapyard.

Departments from Ravenna Township, Ravenna City and Streetsboro responded to the fire, extinguishing it within an hour. Firefighters worked quickly because there was a hawks nest with newborns in one of the surrounding towering trees.

Fire officials believe a mattress leaning against a metal drum started the blaze.

Ravenna Township Fire Chief Steve Bosso said flames from the burning mattress spread, igniting a large portion of the nearby 1,000 tires.

The burnt skeleton of the bed was twisted against the metal drum, as firefighters sprayed a white, foamy material onto a 15-foot wide mound of burning tires to blanket the flames.

"Once tires get going, it's a different ballgame," said Bosso.

After the flames were put out, the three departments worked to clean up the mess.

Bosso said the call was a "nuisance," because while firefighters worked to clean the area and keep the fire from starting again, the manpower was depleted -- in the event of another call. Even more troubling, he said, is the department responds to this address about three to four times each year.

"These guys," he said pointing to the team of firefighters, "have already run their triathalon for the day."

Ravenna Fire Chief Geoffrey Cleveland said firefighters working near the blaze needed to wear protective masks to prevent them from breathing harmful fumes.

"It's not good to breathe any products of combustion," he said. "But rubber is even worse, it's toxic."

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is expected to respond to the scene, and could issue the owners a citation for emitting harmful chemicals in the air.

John Strickland owns the property with his son, John. He said he was burning wood and took lunch just a couple hundred feet away when the tires caught on fire.

"I have had quite a few fires, I ain't going to lie," he said, but added this one was unintentional. "It's been a tough day. This is just one of those freak accidents."