Rubber pile owner installing sprinkler to prevent fire
Cayman Islands Fire Service applies water to the smoldering piles
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Fire Service said that checks today at the site in South Sound where the mound of shredded rubber tyres is being stored revealed no new signs of smoke or fire. They also said the owners are in the process of installing a water sprinkler system to provide a constant water supply on top of the stack. The pile of shredded tyres is being stored to use as aggregate in development, but last Wednesday fire crews were called to deal with the heap, which had spontaneously combusted after the decomposing rubber was piled too high.
Fire crews said that the sprinkler will help but the stack needs to be broken down further into smaller piles to prevent ignition. Officials said in a release that the site owners have committed to exploring options to achieve this in the immediate future.
The fire service also said that it will shortly issue a statement outlining the steps that it is taking in tandem with the owners of this site and others who are also storing this shredded rubber which came from the dump. This was part of a government project to recycle more than half a million tyres previously stored at the dump, where they had caused trouble for fire-fighters.
The fire service is aiming to get the site owners to take all necessary precautions to prevent future fire hazards, as Chief Fire Officer David Hails has warned that if these piles were to fully ignite his crews could be fighting the fires for months, even years.
Category: Local News
Did Dart build his masses with shredded tires?
So they are building condos for sale on garbage. Hopefully the value of they condos will drop and developer loses their shirt for cutting corners. Shameful diss.
I have a few question. Is it safe to fill in a site with this material then build on top of it.? Will it continue to heat up under the building?
Anonymous 7:40 and 7:34pm , I think that when you’re using the old shredded tyres for filling you shouldn’t use the amount that will be 15ft deep or more , because that depth will probably cause a fire . The material of the old tyres are non-degradable so therefore it won’t be any leaching of it , unless you put it directly in the water table .
Ron, would you want any type crumb in your development, specifically your or your neighbor’s back yard covered or not? The risks seem to much to handle especially with high water table, high ambient temperature and with metal in the mix. Reading that U.K. Gov. report a one meter high pile sounds risky, never mind 3 meters high.
But when its mixed in with marl (fill) its not 1m high, its like 1cm high then a cm of marl then a cm of rubber, etc. So the rubber particles don’t get a chance to compress with each other. Its not ‘bury several meters of rubber particles and then cap it’ its more like mixing cement, sand, gravel AND rubber in a mixer, then using it to pour a foundation (to push an analogy).
How can this material be used as agregate to build condos on swamp land? Is this healthy for families who will potentially be residing there and sorrounding neighbors? What about leaching into the ground water and the nearby sound sound sea? Has government or the planning department consider or asked any of these questions? It would be nice the public receives some form of confirmation that fires are not going break out once this thing as underground and damage to people’s investments.
What?! How can you have a problem with clearly combustible likely toxic material being used as fill to ensure the mangrove that grew there will never come back? Man. Just can’t please some people.
7:34 Correctly mixed with concrete this stuff is safe but it all comes down to whether or not the work is done properly. With no real oversight/building control on these islands who knows what’s going to happen?