It is understood that a depot near Londonderry where a fire burned for three days from Sunday 4 October, was storing tyres illegally. The site in Eglinton, which was sub-let, did not have the licence required by environmental law to store the large number of tyres, thought to be as many as half a million. Firefighters arriving to tackle the blaze found four separate fires across the one-acre site.
It is understood that before the fire broke out, a criminal investigation was already being held into why so many tyres were being stored there. A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (DoE NI) said it was previously aware of the approximate quantity of tyres stored. They added that on 14 August, officials served the owners with a notice to clear the site, but only some tyres were removed. Normal procedure dictates that if large amounts of tyres are to be stored, the number is determined within the terms of the planning permission or waste management licence. The onus is on the operator of a site to have the correct licences in place.
The fire is believed to be 10 times the size of original estimates and the costs of dealing with it could run into tens of thousands of pounds. SDLP councillor Jim McKeever said, "I think it's an environmental disaster and it has to be followed up. There has to be some legislation brought into play and there has to be some recompense made."
Police have confirmed that forensic officers are now at the scene to try and establish the cause of the fire, which may have been started deliberately.
