A disaster just waiting to happen

This is May 14th, 2016.  Yesterday was Friday the 13th, the day when at least one very sick end demented person thought he, or she would set a light to millions of used tyres in an open dump, I suppose to get a thrill.

If authorities do bring that person to justice the first thing that should be done, in my opinion is that he or she should be soundly whipped.

The scene of this crime is just outside the town of Seseña, Toledo, Spain. That is located so close to the capital city of Madrid that the fire can be clearly seen from Madrid. The problem is that we motorists have to change our tyres regularly, and once changed we simply drive off leaving the old tyres with the garage. Apparently, we also leave them with a major problem that gets passed on down along the line where they end up out in the open in the baking sun. There are so many of them and the pile just gets bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, this is a disaster just waiting to happen, either as a result of a lightning  strike, or the dump becomes too much of a temptation for some lunatic.

Clearly no-one has come up with an efficient means of disposal that is kind to the environment. Some tires are re-treaded but that is just putting off the problem until later. As a product a tyre does an essential job, but add fire to it and a potent health hazard is created. This present dump consisted of millions of discarded tyres and that has led to one enormous fire. For that reason more than 9000 people have had to be evacuated and a warning given to those nearby, including the city of Madrid.

Not only will it be poisonous but the smell must be overwhelming. Tyre dump fires are notoriously difficult to knockdown. One of the worst such fires took place at Rhinehart, northern Virginia in America on October 3, 1983. That dump held some seven million tyres and produced a plume of smoke that rose more than 3,000 feet, and spread pollutants over 50 miles downwind. It burned for a full nine months! That is hard to take in. I can't imagine what that would have been like for the neighbours.

To think that this fire was caused deliberately. Not only should the culprit be whipped he should be whipped by all those so horribly affected, one at a time.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael