Firefighters worked yesterday to extinguish the smoldering embers from Friday night's blaze at Island Recycling on Sand Island.
Sand Island fire damage
could have been worseWind drove smoke from burning
tires out to sea and away from
the downtown area
Environmental damage from a four-alarm fire Friday at a recycling yard was less severe than it could have been, given the quantity of shredded tires stored there, a state hazardous materials expert said yesterday.
After working through the night and all day yesterday on the smoldering remnants of the blaze, firefighters finally extinguished the fire yesterday afternoon.
An average tire contains the equivalent of two gallons of oil and when burning puts off thick, black smoke that contains cancer-causing chemicals, said Mike Cripps of the state Health Department's Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Division.
At Island Recycling's facility on Sand Island Access Road, there were stacks of tires 20 feet high, he said.
"The heavy smoke plume would have been an inhalation hazard for anyone downwind at the end of the day Friday," Cripps said.
Luckily, there was a brisk trade wind blowing it out to sea and the 70 firefighters battling the blaze were wearing breathing apparatus, he said.
Yesterday morning Cripps said he was glad to see "a very minimal amount of oil" on the water of Kapalama Canal, where a drainage ditch that runs through Island Recycling's site ends up.
A contractor hired by Island Recycling installed oil-absorbing booms yesterday to filter water running off the parcel, Cripps said. Island Recycling employees on the site will periodically clear the booms of any trash that is washed into them, he said.
About 70 firefighters continued to spray water on still-smoldering mounds of burned recyclables yesterday. Island Recycling employees used an excavator and two front-end loaders to turn over and move the debris, so water could get to all of it.
The fire, which was reported at 5:03 p.m. Friday, was brought under control by 10 p.m. Friday and extinguished at 5:35 p.m. yesterday, Honolulu Fire Capt. Kane said.
The nearest building, Pioneer Electric, was unharmed, thanks to quick work by firefighters, Kane said.
No one was injured and nearby businesses were spared damage, although some were closed yesterday. Two firefighters were taken to a hospital for observation after working on the fire, Kane said.
Because the state Department of Transportation land that Island Recycling uses has no water service, firefighters had to pump water through hoses as long as 1,000 feet to fight the fire, Kane said. Federal and state firefighters assisted the Honolulu department.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Kane said.
However, Island Recycling President Jim Nutter said yesterday that his employees said a piece of metal that got into the tire shredder started the fire.
Nutter said he cannot estimate the extent of his losses nor how much material burned. He said an insurance adjuster won't assess the damage until the fire is completely extinguished.
Island Recycling has the contract to process newspapers, glass, and aluminum cans collected by the city in Mililani under the city's curbside program.
City Environmental Services Director Frank Doyle said he expects a decision to be made on what to do about the Mililani recycling service next week.
Nutter said he doesn't know yet whether his company can resume processing recyclables. Mixed recyclables aren't scheduled to be picked up in Mililani until the week of May 10.
Island Recycling is also the apparent low bidder for a city contract to process recyclables collected curbside for 140,000 single-family households on Oahu. However, the City Council hasn't appropriated the money for the program and the bids haven't been awarded. Doyle has said that Island Recycling cannot be awarded the bid unless it clears up violations of state Health Department rules and city building and zoning regulations.
The company also owes back rent and electricity costs to the state DOT, spokesman Scott Ishikawa said.
Kane estimated that a Feb. 22 Chinatown fire is the only other recent fire that was in the four-alarm range. Forty-four firefighters extinguished a blaze at the Risque Book Store and Esquire Theater, 32 North Hotel St., in two hours.
In February 2001, Unitek Environment Services had a fire at its Campbell Industrial Park site, which it said was started in its tire shredder.
