Black Skies Over Nitro: Fighting the Toxic Blaze
“The smoke that comes off them is thick black and toxic.”
This disaster really began back in 2005 when the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ordered US Tire Recovery in Nitro to stop accepting and accumulating waste tires because the warehouse lacked the necessary solid waste permit. The DEP demanded that 10,000 tires be removed weekly, with the removal to be completed by April 7, 2006. However, when the tire fire ignited at 10:00 a.m. on May 4, 2006, reports indicated that 40,000 to 50,000 tires were still sitting on the property.
The blaze reportedly started in a warehouse section filled with plastic sheeting and straw before burning through a wall and spreading to the tire facility. If you’ve ever dealt with burning tires, you know the resulting smoke is thick, black, and toxic, releasing dangerous chemicals like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and cyanide. The immense plume of smoke was visible all the way in Charleston, the state capital.
Firefighters from every department in the county headed to Nitro to tackle the blaze. The response was truly a herculean undertaking, lasting nearly 24 hours. Firefighting crews used millions of gallons of water, with one estimate suggesting 10,000 gallons of water per minute were being poured onto the fire at one point. Residents in the 22-block area were told to shelter in place, lock their windows and doors, and shut off air conditioners to keep the toxic smoke out. Despite the incredible effort, it wasn’t until 3:00 a.m. on May 5th that the fire was declared under control, and it was officially out at 7:00 a.m.. Over 8 million gallons of water were used in total, and $100,000 worth of firefighting equipment was ruined by oil in the runoff water. Remarkably, no one was seriously injured during the entire event.
Warnings Ignored and the Arson Mystery
“This all really started in 2005 when the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection ordered that US Tire Recovery in Nitro stop accepting and accumulating waste tires.”
US Tire Recovery had been violating a state order for months, continuing to work without a permit that allowed them to collect tires. Inspectors had previously noted that tires were stacked to the ceiling and the building lacked a sprinkler system strong enough to handle a tire fire. When the blaze actually broke out, the electrical fire pump designed to help the sprinklers never ran.
Investigators from the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office, ATF, and the DEP spent about six days on the scene and eventually ruled the fire an act of arson. They found that some type of accelerant was used to set the fire near a wooden wall separating the tire warehouse and a neighboring land reclamation company. The fire caused an estimated $3.5 million in damage to the building and $1 million to its contents. The kicker? No one was ever charged for the arson.
However, someone was criminally charged for running an illegal tire dump. Ricky Hanley was charged with a felony for operating a processing center without a permit, a violation of the state’s Solid Waste Management Act. Although Hanley’s lawyer argued he was merely an on-site manager who had sold the business before the fire, the state maintained that Hanley was always the point of contact for the DEP.
Justice Served or Justice Delayed?
“Their health was worth roughly $15 an hour. That’s how much a settlement would pay out after a massive tire fire two years earlier.”
In July 2008, Hanley accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a felony, admitting that he had conspired with two US Tire Recovery executives in November 2005 to keep accepting tires even after the business lost its permit and was under DEP surveillance. Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Todd Kaufman sentenced him to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. However, just two months after the sentencing, the same judge rescinded the jail time and instead gave Hanley three years of probation.
The criminal case was separate from a massive class-action lawsuit filed against US Tire Recovery and Kim Valley Properties on behalf of roughly 6,000 residents from Nitro and St. Albans. Although neither company admitted wrongdoing, they reached a settlement in 2008 for about $1.2 million. After the attorneys took almost half a million dollars, approximately $725,000 remained to be split among the residents.
Payments to the residents ranged from $68 to just under $300, depending on how long they were inside during the shelter-in-place order. This system resulted in payouts that were sometimes calculated at about $15 an hour for the inconvenience. Some residents felt the small amount wasn’t even worth the time to apply for the claim, and importantly, the settlement did not cover any potential future health issues resulting from the toxic smoke.
Want to know more about the logistics of fighting this massive, toxic fire, and hear the full story of what happened to US Tire Recovery years later? Check out the original video!
