Mosquitoes, maybe rats, linger in tires
Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 22, 2002
The area is filled with old used up tires, tires that can accumulate standing water, attracting mosquitoes. Children come to play baseball near the area, frequently. The results, says one Dallas County resident, could be deadly.
Dan Rutledge said that on Mechanic Street there is an accumulation of tires right outside the Dallas County Shop, a shop that repairs vehicles and other types of items for the county.
With water accumulating in the tires, said Rutledge, it attracts mosquitoes &045; insects that may possibly be carrying the West Nile virus, a disease that has infected hundreds and killed several over the past few months in the United States.
To remedy the problem, Rutledge said he contacted Selma Mayor James Perkins and Probate Judge Johnny Jones, head of the Dallas County Commission.
The tires, however, remain on county property.
Dallas County Vector Control Officer Larry Friday said the county is aware of the problem and is planning to move the tires.
Friday added that the disposal of unused, left-over tires is a problem nationwide, and that what is needed to rid the area of the tires is an incinerator.
Friday said that there is a plan, currently in the works, to build an incinerator in Maplesville.
Added to the problem of accumulating tires, another employee who works at a nearby business close to the county shop, said that what is underneath the tires may also pose a health hazard.
Anthony Black, who works at Two Occasions, a business on Mechanic Street, said that he thought there could be rats underneath the tires.