A towering column of black smoke rose over Joppa and Edgewood on Friday afternoon after a fire broke out in a pile of shredded tires at a scrap tire processing facility in the 1200 block of Pauls Lane. The blaze, reported at approximately 12:15 p.m., drew dozens of firefighters and several mutual-aid agencies as crews worked to keep the fire from spreading beyond the tire pile itself.
The facility is Auston Contracting Inc., which also operates as Auston Tire Recycling, a state-permitted construction transfer and scrap tire processing station at 1202 Pauls Lane, according to Daily Voice. Footage captured by SKY 11 showed multiple fire engines responding to the scene, as reported by WBAL-TV. Nottingham MD identified Rescue Engine 8 and Truck 8 as Joppa-Magnolia units deployed to the fire. The station reported that thick black smoke was visible for miles around the Joppa and Edgewood area, and that the fire was ultimately contained to a pile of shredded tires without spreading to structures.
Dozens of Firefighters, Multiple Jurisdictions Respond
According to the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association, as cited in the same WBAL-TV report, between 40 and 50 firefighters and 15 units responded to the scene. The Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, which provides primary fire suppression and rescue services for the Joppa and Edgewood communities in southern Harford County, deployed crews to the fire, per Nottingham MD. The Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Company also responded, and responders included personnel from Aberdeen Proving Ground and Baltimore County, the station's report notes.
Because tire fires can be especially difficult to extinguish, foam units were requested from U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground, Baltimore County Fire, and Baltimore Fire, per the same account. Firefighters used elevated ladder trucks to spray streams of water into the burning tire pile, while emergency officials warned motorists Friday to avoid Philadelphia Road between Joppa Road and Mountain Road, also known as MD 152, according to Daily Voice. The cause of the fire remained under investigation, WBAL-TV reported.
A Large-Scale Recycling Operation
The Joppa facility is no small operation. Maryland Department of the Environment regulatory filings from fiscal year 2025 show that Auston Tire Recycling processed 884,264 scrap tires at the site that year, making it one of the largest licensed tire recycling operations in the state, according to records reviewed by the Maryland Department of the Environment. Statewide, Maryland generates roughly 6.2 million scrap tires annually and processed 5.7 million tires during the same fiscal year, the department's records show, underscoring how much of the state's tire waste flows through facilities like the one on Pauls Lane.
Why Tire Fires Pose Unique Hazards
Tire fires are notoriously difficult and dangerous to fight because of what they release into the air and ground. Environmental research compiled by Gradeall International notes that open tire fires produce toxic air pollutants, including benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and carbon monoxide, along with highly flammable pyrolytic oil that can contaminate surrounding soil and groundwater.
Maryland has dealt with catastrophic tire fires before. A 1990 tire stockpile fire in Hagerstown involved approximately 7 million tires, took two days and 500 firefighters to control, and required multi-year soil and groundwater remediation, per Gradeall International's research. That disaster helped drive the state's regulatory approach: Maryland regulates scrap tire management under the Scrap Tire Recycling Act of 1991.
It remains unclear what ignited Friday's fire at the Pauls Lane facility, and whether state or local authorities will conduct follow-up environmental monitoring of air quality or runoff at the site.
