The Associated Press
HAWKINS, Texas — Toxic smoke from a blaze in a heap of old tires sitting on more than an acre forced officials to evacuate residents and close schools Tuesday in this small East Texas town.
Firefighters did not have enough water and foam to extinguish the fire, so they dug a ditch to get dirt to smolder the flames. Rain helped firefighting efforts, said Wood County Emergency Management Coordinator Randy Selman.
“It’s contained to one area ... but it’s still burning vigorously,” he said.
Selman said the lot contains millions of tires but only about 150,000 were burning.
Most residents of the town of about 1,500 were urged to evacuate along with the residents of a nursing home. Hawkins Independent School District and Jarvis Christian College were ordered to close.
No injuries were reported.
The fire in Hawkins, about 100 miles east of Dallas, was being investigated as arson, police Lt. A.J. Randell said.
Representatives from federal and state agencies were in route to the site, Selman said.
The tire lot, owned by Foster and Sons Scrap Tire Service, had been unattended for about a year, and the tires were meant to be recycled.