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It may be necessary to create fire breaks and/or access routes into the pile. These should be at least 18 m (60 ft) wide or wider if high winds are a factor. Also, as the piles tend to be unstable, sturdy platforms should be provided to fire fighters who are operating atop the pile. Wooden pallets work well for this purpose. The summaries of several Guidelines issues presented above only address a small portion of the issues and problems of preventing and fighting a tire fire. To effectively protect public health, safety, and property, a fire-fighting management team trained to deal with tire fires should be in charge of planning and execution of such an event. 2.6 TIRE FIRE "TARGET" COMPOUNDS Recognizing the dangers to health and environment associated with tire fires, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) conducted a study on hazardous airborne chemical compounds. TPCHD published a report that identified, through a series of screening steps, a subset of 34 target compounds (weighted based on toxicity and expected ambient air concentrations) that should be considered for air monitoring during a tire fire (Adolfson Associates, 1994). There is a potential for a wide range of health effects from exposure to the hydrocarbons, metals, and inorganic gases and vapors identified. The health effects include irritation of the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes, central nervous system depression, respiratory effects, and cancer. In developing the target list, the authors gathered air monitoring data collected by EPA at nine tire fire locations (Wisconsin, Washington, Virginia, Arkansas, Colorado, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and Utah), as well as the data from the test burn discussed earlier in this report (Ryan, 1989; Lemieux and DeMarini, 1992). Compounds identified as either a suspected or confirmed human carcinogen were automatically listed as target compounds, regardless of recorded air concentration or emission level. As a group, PAHs in low concentration were not singled out, and CTPV was used to represent the PAH class of compounds. Individual PAHs with a concentration high enough to qualify as a target compound (see below) were listed separately, however. The compounds were also evaluated based on whether their maximum measured airborne concentration exceeded 33% of the TLV for that compound. If so, the compound was considered a target compound. Thirty-three percent of the TLV was used, to approximate an equivalent worker inhalation dosage, because exposure to a tire fire could occur 24-hours per day, as opposed to the 8-hours that the TLV is based upon. The last evaluation criteria the authors applied was to compare the ratio of detected value to the subchronic and chronic inhalation reference concentrations (RfQ. The RfC is an estimate of the exposure concentration that would not result in appreciable risk of adverse health effects. Compounds were ordered by decreasing ratios (e.g., of detected concentration to subchronic RfQ. Target compounds were determined by selecting the top 25% of compounds from each data set. 23