Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has released a fact sheet and community report to summarise the air quality monitoring results it recorded during a tyre fire that began on 11 January 2016 at Tyre Crumb Australia in Broadmeadows.
EPA monitoring showed that local air quality was impacted by fine particles in smoke known as ‘PM2.5’ during the fire. The highest impacts were recorded during late evening on 11 January and early into the next morning. These peaks meant that the estimated average air quality over the first 24 hours of monitoring reached the ‘unhealthy all’ health category, before returning to normal levels as the fire was extinguished.
Residents nearby were advised to shelter indoors and close windows and doors.
The fact sheet provides the key points about the incident and air monitoring results, while the report provides further details on the incident-response and analysis of the data.
The report has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Emergency Management Victoria.