On March 1, 2024, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR)
notified EPA Region 7 of a tire fire located approximately four miles east of Neosho, Missouri, at the Trouble Free Used Tires facility. State and local
agencies responded to suppress and extinguish the fire. Smoke from the fire impacted air quality for nearby residences. The major contaminants associated with the smoke were believed to be particulates, volatiles, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's). A Unified
Command (UC), comprised of MoDNR and the local fire department, was stood up with the focus of extinguishing the fire. No evacuations were ordered.
The UC requested assistance from EPA Region 7 to conduct air monitoring during the incident. Two On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) and two START contractors deployed on March 1, with the requested monitoring and sampling equipment. Three air monitoring stations were established and collected continuous air quality data. Samples for laboratory analysis had also been collected and were analyzed for volatiles and PAHs.
EPA provided air monitoring until March 7, 2024, at which time it was determined that due to rain and the fire being nearly extinguished, air monitoring was no longer necessary. EPA Region 7 risk assessors reviewed laboratory and real time air monitoring data collected during the response and found no significant exposures occurred as a result of the fire. The findings of the risk assessment along with EPA's final report were both shared with MoDNR.
