A massive fire is raging at a sprawling tire dump in a town near Madrid, sending a sp.
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Women wear protective masks as black smoke from a huge fire billows in the background in Sesena, central Spain, on May 13.
The 10ha dump, which contains millions of tyres, caught fire early yesterday morning, releasing a thick black cloud of toxic fumes.
Authorities in Castilla-La Mancha warned the blaze had produced a “toxic cloud” which could affect part of Sesena, ordering the evacuation of a large apartment complex in Sesena on Friday afternoon because of the risk from the smoke.
He said: “I’ve been talking to the two petrol station workers who raised the alarm, and they told me that the fire started on one side of the dump, which makes us think it was not a chance occurrence”.
They said that ambulances have been sent to the apartment complex to evacuate the rest of the residents who have health problems.
Some 10,000 people living in the town of Sesena near the Spanish capital evacuated their homes on Friday after the dump went up in flames in a suspected arson attack.
The dump is less than six miles from the complex. – Health warning -Doctors interviewed on Spanish television said inhaling large amounts of the smoke could cause chemical pneumonia, asthma and eye, nose and throat irritation, especially in children, old people and those with weak respiratory systemsSome area schools stayed closed for the day.
About 70 per cent of the tyre had burned by Friday (local time) but officials did not know when the blaze would be completely extinguished, Spain’s regional Environment Minister Francisco Martnez was quoted as saying by dna. The smoke plume was visible from Madrid, more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) away. Two major highways pass close to Sesena.
In 2015 The Guardian newspaper reported that local government authorities were searching for a company to shred and recycle 90,000 tonnes (99,000 tons) of tyres that had been dumped there.
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It was declared illegal and environmental groups had long warned it posed a health hazard, but authorities only recently started acting on the problem, inviting bids to empty the dump and destroy the tyres at the end of a year ago.
