Fire burns 5,600 tons of rubber at US port

SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP):

Firefighters yesterday battled a giant blaze fuelled by 5,600 tons of rubber at the Port of Savannah, South Carolina, where a towering column of black smoke could be seen from miles away.

This prompted police to urge nearby hotels and college buildings to evacuate or keep people inside.

Firefighters were trying to contain and extinguish a fire raging inside a warehouse covering 226,000 square feet at the port's Ocean Terminal just west of downtown Savannah.

The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known, but all port workers were accounted for and unharmed.

"The warehouse is full of rubber, so it's a rubber fire," said Robert Morris, spokesman for the Georgia Ports Authority.

Morris said a firewall so far had contained the fire to just half of the vast warehouse and the burning area contained about 5,600 tons of imported raw rubber used in manufacturing.

Savannah-Chatham County police closed some streets near the port terminal west of downtown Savannah and smoke slowed traffic on the Talmadge Bridge that spans the Savannah River to South Carolina.

Police also asked a few hotels near the port terminal and the Savannah College of Art and Design, which has buildings in the area, to either evacuate or keep people inside.

"We're not worried about the fire getting over there at this point," said police spokesman Julian Miller. "It's the smoke. It's going to be heavy, oily and ugly."

The Port of Savannah is America's fourth-busiest seaport for containerised cargo.

The Ocean Terminal, which covers 200 acres, handles farm equipment and other heavy machinery as well as automobiles and bulk goods such as wood products and steel.