LOCKPORT — Firefighters disconnected the last yellow hose that snaked from a hydrant and into a Lockport recycling plant at about 11 a. m. Saturday, where a tire fire had burned since Friday afternoon.

The blaze at Liberty Tire Recycling, 490 Ohio St., started at about 2:15 p. m. Friday. It sent a mass of black smoke drifting east across the city that could be seen at least 10 miles away. After nightfall Friday, smoke could still be seen in the headlights of traffic on South Transit Street, Route 78, near the center of the city, and the smell was pervasive downwind of the fire in the city’s west end.

Liberty Tire is in an industrial zone that is also near homes, including a residential neighborhood on Stevens Street. There were no evacuations, but residents were advised to stay inside and not open their windows.

Ohio Street and other nearby roads remained closed Saturday, but authorities were not vigilant, and residents and workers easily navigated around the orange blockades.

Mayor Michael W. Tucker said the fire was the result of a broken electrical line that fell on a pile of tires.

“I think the fire or heat raced through that wire and overheated it. That caused the transmission line to break and fall on the tires. It was bad luck, but at the same time, those tires shouldn’t have been there,” Tucker said.

The mayor said he thought the city may have a building code violation case to pursue against the company.

“It’s another example of why we need the [U. S.] Environmental Protection Agency and [New York State] Department of Environmental Conservation doing inspections on a regular basis at even some of the smaller facilities,” said Erin Heaney, executive director of the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York. “I think this also shows the continued need for the DEC to be able to do air monitoring when there are accidents at facilities that could threaten public health.”

Derek Martin, who said he was the property owner but not the plant’s operator, declined to speak to The Buffalo News or allow access to fire officials at the scene.

Martin invited residents or workers from the neighborhood to contact him directly about health or safety concerns from the fire or any violations that may have occurred on his property.

A spokesman for the corporate office of Liberty Tire Recycling, in Pittsburgh, also declined to comment.

News Staff Reporters Tim Graham and Mark Sommer contributed to this report.

tprohaska@buffnews.comnull