Fire crews battle massive fire at Hoopeston factory

Fire crews battle massive fire at Hoopeston factory

www.newsbug.info

Many Hoopeston residents had a shocking wake up call this morning as explosions rocked through a factory early this morning.
Flames have engulfed the J&R Used Tire Service factory on Route 9 in Hoopeston and fire crews from throughout the area are still working to keep the fire contained.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is local news in my area here in Illinois. A friend of mine has been keeping tabs on what's going on. She's said that over half of the town has been evacuated so far due to the toxic fumes coming from all of the burning tires. Apparently there is 2,000 gallons of propane in storage in the warehouse right now and things could go south very fast. The smoke from the explosions and fire is stretching across 2 counties right now. Firefighters from 12 different areas have came in to help contain the fires.

www.newsbug.info
(visit the link for the full news article)

Burning tires won't be put out very easily. I think it is about as hard as putting out a magnesium fire.

Maybe its just me but there seem to be a lot of explosions lately.
It might be my foil hat, or the media is over hyping things.

Heres some more recent pictures of how it's looking right now.

That is some crazy pictures you posted.

How is that truck so close? That fire is intense, how are there fire fighters that close let alone the steel truck?
Reminds me of the Iraq oil fields burning.

I'm not really sure why anyone is that close. If that place is filled with 2,000 or so gallons of propane, it could explode at any moment. That's a lot of propane to explode. I understand they are trying to contain the fire from growing out into the surrounding area and damaging homes and stuff like that, but they are all putting their lives at risk.

reply to post by Erich94


I dont understand it either. You can control the fire by dozing a perimeter....that's about all i would be willing to do.
I would not be anywhere near that, no way no how.

This happened in Southern Ontario Canada too

Tire fires, where tires are stored, dumped or processed, exist in two forms: as fast-burning events, leading to almost immediate loss of control, and as slow-burning pyrolysis which can continue for over a decade. They are noted for being difficult to extinguish. Such fires produce a lot of smoke, which often carries toxic chemicals from the breakdown of rubber compounds while burning. Tires are typically not prone to self-ignition as a tire must be heated to at least 400 °C for a period of several minutes prior to ignition. Therefore, tire fires are normally the result of arson or improper manipulation with open fire. However, it is possible for tires to spontaneously combust,[citation needed] especially in the case of shredded tires or tire "crumbs".

Extinguishing tire fires is difficult. The fire releases a dark, thick smoke that contains carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and products of butadiene and styrene. A specific danger is posed by dripping hot fluids (which may cause burns) and valves shooting from the fire under pressure.[1] Burning tires are heated and as they have a low thermal conductivity, they are difficult to cool down. Moreover, they frequently burn inside even if they are extinguished from outside, and easily reignite when hot. One possibility is to cover the fire with soil, reducing the supply of oxygen and exhaust of the thick dark toxic smoke. After extinguishing and cooling down (which may last several days), the site must be surveyed and toxic chemicals neutralized.[2]

Wiki

Link also has a list of notable tire fires, not good. Most of these are dumps, not tire factories

There isn't any reports on injuries or anything yet, but hopefully no one got hurt during this. And hopefully no one gets hurt during this.

one of my main concerns, is what kind of impact will this have on the environment in the surrounding area? If it rains or anything like that, who's to say that there won't be all sorts of nasty chemicals mixing in with the rain. All of the flaming rubber isn't good and I'm almost certain it will have some kind of impact on a few peoples health.

Originally posted by shaneslaughta
Maybe its just me but there seem to be a lot of explosions lately.
It might be my foil hat, or the media is over hyping things.

Nahh....not just you.

A lot of 'mystery' fires have been occuring as of late...

reply to post by Vasa Croe


you have to put soap in the
water to put tires out

the propane will be in a tank, small size like a home unit.

as the tank heats up a pop off valve will
allow propane to escape and that will
catch on fire about ten feet above the tank.


it will continue to vent and burn until empty
as long as they keep open flame away
it will be okay. okay?









































BOOMBOOM

reply to post by Erich94


How awful and scary.
Thanks for supplying those pictures.
Where is Hooperston in Illinois? I skimmed the article and didn't see it mentioned..

It's along the eastern border near indiana, about in the center of the state all the way on the right side.

Wow amazing pics !
Some people looked way too close
in my opinion.

And hell yeah be worried
about the environment down plume!
Especially if it rains. And try not to breathe
burning tire. I think even Exxon would tell
you that's bad for you.

reply to post by ButterCookie


Hi ButterCookie, I have been wondering about all the explosions/fires too. Here in Louisiana, we had that munitions storage explosion, the horrific explosion in that Texas fertiliizor factory and last week, here in Louisiana again, we had a chemical factory explosion around Baton Rouge. Seems I recall reading about several various explosions up North in various states as well. Just seems like an awful lot.

We still have concerns here at Bayou Corne, Louisiana that something similar may occur if the sinkhole problem continues to grow as it has been and gets near the nearby butane storage area. Camp Minden here isn't totally done with making safe all the dangerous material they found at the facility after the explosion that occurred last year....can't help wondering.

I sure hope this recent one the OP mentioned....that folks will be ok but it does sound and look like bad news for them. Blessings to them and love to all.

reply to post by sealing


Hi, I am kind new here but they are most likely close because they are all volunteer firefighters and know very little about these types of fires. No offense as I live really close to Hoopeston and know that they get paid like 8 dollars to go on a fire call whether its 48 hours or 5 minutes. Which direction is the wind blowing? I live close to there and really don't want to breathe this stuff in. Hoopeston is in central Illinois kind of by the University of Illinois for whoever was asking. Hope that kind of helps..

reply to post by whatshannenin


That's a little inaccurate, I live in Champaign, the U of I is in Champaign, and hoopeston is pretty far from here