Crews called to massive tire fire in Armstrong County
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Crews were called to a massive fire at Stivason & Sons Trucking in Armstrong County on Monday.
The building, which stores tires and vehicles, caught fire just after 4 p.m. Crews battled thick smoke and heavy flames at the scene on North Long Run Road in South Bend Township.
Elderton Fire Chief David Plavi said the call came in as a brush fire, but he is not sure if the tires or brush caught fire first. About 500 tires burned.
"When I got here, the flames were shooting above that building," he said.
More than a dozen departments responded to the trucking company's building. Before crews arrived, the chief said workers at the company tried to move the tires themselves.
"They were trying to get the tire and whatever wasn't on fire away from the building. It was chaos," Plavi said.
The building was saved, but burning tires caught the back of the structure on fire. It took more than an hour for crews to control the fire. The location was so remote that crews had to truck water to the scene.
The fire marshal is investigating. Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.