Crews tackle smouldering tire fire in Jaffray Wednesday afternoon

A transfer station in Jaffray has reopened after a pile of tires lit ablaze early Wednesday afternoon.

Nine members of the Regional District of East Kootenay’s Jaffray and Elko Fire Departments, along with District staff and a heavy equipment contractor, were on the scene at Tie Lake Transfer Station at around 1 p.m.

The site was closed for several hours as crews continued checking for hot spots.

“When we arrived on site, we found a smoldering fire within the tire pile, which made it a more complicated response,” explained Elk Valley and South Country Rural Fire Assistant Chief Rachael Engelhardt. 

“Our firefighters did an excellent job of triaging the situation and, with the assistance of an equipment operator, were able to separate the pile safely and extinguish the fire.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.