Fire in Old Quarry Poses Access, Water Problems
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Photos by W. W. Varnedoe, Jr.
Ordinarily there would be little to burn in an abandoned limestone quarry, but a call to one in Huntsville, Ala., kept the fire department busy for 7 1/2 hours.
This quarry was at the south end of the city’s sanitary landfill and later was incorporated into the landfill. When quarrying ceased, all that remained was a pit about 80 feet deep with sheer sides and a ramp down one side. Over the years, however, old tires were dumped into the pit.
Third fire
Although the landfill is fenced for controlled access, the quarry is remote from the main landfill area. Apparently it is easy for vandals to set fires because this was the third time this year for the fire department to be called. The alarm for the worst fire came in on Friday, Feb. 13 at 5:32 a.m.
The tires were burning. A dense column of black smoke could be seen for miles around and was blowing over part of the city. Chief Walter Moseley was called to the scene, along with Assistant Chief Bryant. Five pumpers, a rescue vehicle and three district chiefs were also used in the operations to extinguish the fire.
Three problems immediately confronted the fire fighters. Access into the pit was difficult. There was a lack of nearby water and some of the tires were buried under dirt that had been dumped on them during an earlier fire. Adding to the problem were some roofing material, fiberglass and broken glass that were mixed in the pile.
Long hose lay
It was necessary to relay pump water. To get water to the fire from the nearest plug on Vermont Drive, 4450 feet of 2 1/2 -inch hose and 1450 feet of 1 1/2 -inch hose were used. Engine 1A took the plug and pumped two 2 1/2 -inch lines to Engine 3, which pumped a 1/4-inch line to Engine 9 and another 21/8-inch line to Engine 6. Engines 6 and 9 each stretched two 1 1/2-inch lines down into the quarry. Because of the sheer walls it was necessary to rig ropes for this evolution. For a while, Engine 6 shut down its 1 1/2-inch lines and pumped AFFF into a 2 1/2-inch hand line.
By 8 a.m. the dense smoke was knocked down, but the smoldering tires stubbornly refused to be totally extinguished. Front end loaders and bulldozers were used to haul the upper layers off the pile and dump them into a small pond that had collected in the quarry.
Eventually the fire was extinguished. The fire fighters and apparatus returned to their quarters around 1 p.m., only to have another fire reported in those same tires a few days later.
