On Monday March 19, 2018 EPA received a call from State authorities about a wild lands grass fire on Fort Carson Army Base, near Colorado Springs, CO that set a fence constructed of compressed tires located on adjacent private property on fire. At the request of the State, County, and Local authorities, EPA deployed an On Scene Coordinator (OSC), Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START), and (ERRS) contractors to the Site that same day.
The fire was extinguished on March 21 by pulling the burning tires off the wall and away from the hotspots and applying dirt and water. EPA continued to monitor air quality throughout this process for worker and public safety and samples from the burn area were collected for waste characterization and eventual disposal of all impacted soil.
On March 22, the fire has remained out although one hotspot was identified and addressed. The fire debris was piled up in preparation for disposal and a dam that was previously installed in a nearby arroyo to control runoff was removed.
On March 27, sample results were received and results are below EPA's target risk range which means no additional soil removal is necessary and the tire fire debris piled up may be transported to the Midway Landfill on Wednesday March 28th.
On March 28: The tire fire debris piles have been removed and transported to the disposal facility. The areas where soil was removed has been re-contoured and/or filled-in.
As of March 29: Final Site work was completed, equipment and personnel were demobilized from the site.
