Some residents in Brandon are worried about the effects of a massive fire at a tire shop in the city on Monday night.
Cleanup was underway at Sturgeon Tire on Tuesday.
Burnt tires were among the debris being hauled away.
Glen Mattice owns a store nearby the tire shop, where the fire broke out.
"I was quite worried. I thought for sure the back corner was going to catch on fire," said Mattice.
His store was spared, but he's worried about some of the smoke he breathed in during the blaze.
"It's not good for you to breathe that in. It'd be quite harmful," said Mattice.
A Brandon University professor said burning tires likely had an impact on people with breathing-related health problems.
"Any tire fire – there's about two gallons of oil in one tire, so you think of an oil fire made even bigger," said Bill Paton.
He's also worried toxic particles may settle into the ground.
Paton is concerned about runoff into underground streams and into the nearby Assiniboine River.
"That's an ongoing possible concern as well…groundwater contamination," said Paton.
Manitoba Conservation said the ground is frozen and that water used in fighting a fire generally doesn't get into underground streams.
The province also said there was no air quality issues recorded at its monitoring site in the city's east end.
Bill Paton said a proper cleanup following the fire is important.
A provincial spokesperson said Manitoba Conservation is on site to help with that.
Glen Mattice said he's not feeling ill, but is shocked the fire came so close to spreading to his business of 30 years.
"We're very lucky," he said.
No on from Sturgeon Tire could be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Damage is estimated at $1 million from the fire.
Brandon police said the fire is not considered suspicious. Investigators said a failure in the electrical motor of a compressor caused the motor to overload. Several combustible products were near the air compressor, said officials.
- with a report from CTV's Josh Crabb
