(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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DNR: Dumont man burned more than 1,000 tires [1]
['Jared Strong', 'More From Author', '- October']
Date: 2023-10-13
The state Department of Natural Resources recently fined a north-central Iowa man $7,000 for a fire that burned more than 1,000 tires and a building.
Brian Young, of rural Dumont, reported the fire to local emergency responders on Feb. 4, 2023, when he lost control of it, according to DNR records.
Young had burned a pile of tree debris that was close to a very large pile of tires, the base of which measured about 50 feet by 50 feet. Some of that debris had been placed on top of the tire pile, DNR reported.
The tires were located next to a shed that also caught fire. The acreage is about two miles north of Dumont.
The DNR investigated the situation several days later, and Young indicated “he had just had an area of trees cleared by someone and did not realize the person piled the brush on top of a pile of tires,” a recent DNR administrative order said. “He also stated that he did know the brush pile was within five feet of the large pile of tires. He did not give a name of who cleared the brush on the property.”
Burning tires is prohibited by state law because it releases toxins that can pollute the air and groundwater. Tire fires can be difficult to extinguish.
Also, accumulating more than 500 tires without a state permit is illegal.
Young does not own the property but has lived there for about two years, DNR records show. He said he did not know where the tires came from. Kongkham Chanthavisouk, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, owns the property, and Young is his friend.
Ultimately, there was not enough evidence to cite anyone for tire-hauling violations, said Madelynn Austin, a DNR environmental specialist who investigated the incident.
“It was kind of a big thing,” Austin said of the fire. “And I don’t know why he was burning brush in February. Kind of suspicious.”
Frigid winter temperatures can make it more difficult to burn tree debris.
Austin said Young was not forthcoming about the situation and did not agree with a proposed settlement offered by the DNR, so the department fined him $7,000 and ordered him to provide disposal receipts to show he had removed the remaining debris from the property.
Young can appeal the decision.
Trespasser also fined for tire burning
The DNR also recently fined a Mason City man $3,100 for admittedly burning about 25 tires.
In April, Dennis Leo Reich was among five people who were accused of trespassing on an acreage about 13 miles north of Mason City. Someone reported multiple fires on the property, and when law-enforcement officers arrived, Reich admitted to setting fire to the tires, DNR records show.
Reich was charged with trespassing and criminal mischief for transporting tires to the property and burning them, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to the trespassing charge and was fined $260. The criminal mischief charge was dismissed.
A DNR investigation revealed that more than 100 tires might have been burned.
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