Emergency services and Environment Canterbury are holding a community meeting tonight to discuss the fallout of yesterday’s tyre fire in Amberley.

One man was expected to appear in court today charged with arson.

Environment Canterbury zone manager northern Andrew Arps said “our focus right now is on managing the fire risk at Racecourse Road.”

“We are working closely with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) to understand how long the fire could burn for so we can put plans in place for our next steps.”

“As soon as it is safe to do so, we plan for the site will be capped with soil to address smoke and dust emissions, and to minimise rain washing contaminants into groundwater.  At a later stage, all contaminated material will be removed to landfill.”

“We expect all the entire pile of tyres – which we understand about 160,000 – will be burnt.”

As well as FENZ staff, Environment Canterbury has its own fire crew which is also on-site and will remain so 24/7 until the fire is out.

Environment Canterbury staff will continue to be on-site in the days to come to lead and co-ordinate clean-up activities, assessing its impact, and to prevent any further environmental effects.

A community meeting will be held tonight , details below.

When: 5pm tonight (January 30)

Where:  Amberley Pavilion (The Tin Shed), 50 Douglas Road

Who: Environment Canterbury, Hurunui District Council and Fire and Emergency New Zealand.