Pile of truck tires goes up in flames in Peabody

PEABODY – Firefighters extinguished a blaze that broke out on a pile of 50 truck tires on the property of 19 Farm Ave. shortly after 10 a.m. Monday.Two State Police Troopers and several drivers on nearby Route 128 called the fire department after observing smoke.”It was a pretty smoky fire for quite a while because of the tires,” Deputy Fire Chief James Coughlin said. “I can see why people called from the highway.”Coughlin said Engine 1 was first to arrive on the scene. The firefighters happened to be fueling the engine at the city yard at 50 Farm Ave., but it still took a while to get to the scene because of “the narrowness of the road” leading to the fire, he said.Coughlin described the neighborhood as residential but said a renter of the 19 Farm Ave. property has been using the three-acre lot to store construction equipment. He said illegal burning caused the fire.No injuries were reported. Firefighters were on scene for about two hours.The renter has been cited for code violations, Coughlin said.