A tire fire sent a lot of smoke into the sky above southeast Cambridge on Monday, but was contained before it could spread to neighbouring buildings or fuel tanks.
Around 11:30 a.m., firefighters were called to Al’s Stone Service on Dundas Street, east of Branchton Road.
Thick, black smoke was visible through much of the area.
Ryan Kroeger, part of a renovation crew working a few properties down the road, described it as a “huge black plume.”
Other renovation workers said they heard a woman screaming about the fire, not long after which multiple explosions sounded.
From a distance, they said, the fire appeared to be intense.
“They were burning the tops of the trees,” Kroeger said.
Officials with the Cambridge Fire Department – which called in crews from all five of its stations, as well as tanker trunks from Ayr – estimate that between 300 and 400 tires were destroyed.
The investigation into what caused the fire continues.
The Ministry of the Environment was also at the scene Monday, examining a nearby pond for signs of potential contamination.
