‘Too little, too late;’ Neighborhood asks city to take action after large tire fire

Neighbors are still upset over a massive fire in Dayton that happened on Monday.

As reported on News Center 7 at 6 and 11, black smoke could be seen for miles as hundreds of tires burned on Leonhard Street Monday, making the flames stronger.

In a Wednesday city commission meeting, Dayton leaders acknowledged that it received its first complaint about the property in 2021.

Matthew Tepper, president of Old North Dayton Neighborhood Association, said this fire could have been prevented.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 8 properties damaged after large fire in Dayton

Tepper said the city did hand out violations to the property in the past and has cleared out some of the tires — but ran into problems when they were not permitted to enter private property.

Tepper and other neighbors said they believe something needs to change with those restrictions to prevent another fire.

“In this case, it was not enough ... too little, too late,” Tepper said. “The fire was an eye opener to say ‘we need to think about some new ways to get at those exceptional properties that need to be addressed.”

The smoke caused by the fire put some in the hospital.

“I’m really upset. I’m just frustrated,” Lacie Reynolds said. “I had to go to the ER.”

Days after breathing in the thick smoke Reynolds said she could no longer put off a hospital visit.

“The chemicals, the smells have really gotten to me,” she said.

She said complaints about the tires on the property have been ongoing.

“It should have been taken care of years, months ago,” she said.

At least one home is still without power due to the damage caused by the fire.

News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.