Toxic smoke alert in Melbourne tire fire

Melbourne, Australia – Over 100 fire fighters fought a large fire in the Broadmeadows district of Melbourne where a tire recycling centre was ablaze.

The fire started shortly before 9am on 11 Jan, at Tyre Crumb recycling centre, where according to the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), a tire pile measuring 100 by 30 metres was burning.

The MFB said that it estimated the pile to have more than 200,000 tires.

“It’s proving to be quite a challenging fire and crews are doing their best to get it under control but it will take some time,” MBF incident controller David Youssef said.

"There is a lot of rubber there and a lot of fuel there to burn so it is proving quite challenging for firefighters," he added.

According to Youssef, the fire could continue to burn for another 24-36 hours as tire fires are difficult to extinguish.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

MFB has urged residents near the fire to turn off air conditioners and keep doors and windows closed as a huge plume of toxic fumes towers from the fire.

(Image: Archived footage - MBF)