Over 1300 old tires were collected as Brownwood city and community service workers manned the tire roundup Friday and Saturday in an effort to reduce the breeding grounds of mosquitoes that could potentially carry and spread the West Nile Virus.

This was a cooperative effort of the City of Brownwood and BISD’s P.A.S.S. (Pride for Areas Surrounding Schools) program with the goal of significantly reducing the amount of abandoned tires in the area.

Residents of the City of Brownwood were allowed to bring up to 6 tires for disposal at no charge during the event.  Friday was considered a huge success by organizers who collected 535 tires.  Another 800 tires were collected on Saturday, bringing the total collected during the round up to 1335 or a staggering 84 tires per hour according to Brownwood’s Manager of Development Services Kevin Pate.  City workers and community service workers manned the roundup site both days at the vacant lots across from Coggin Elementary School, 1000 Avenue B and 1005 Irma Street.

The importance of the event was explained by Pate who stated that generally, the public does not always realize the problems of tires stored outside and how many discarded tires there are around town.

“Tires are something that people don’t notice until you mention them,” said Pate. “People also don’t think about mosquitoes breeding in them.”  He explained that once water gets in tires, it takes a long time for the water to evaporate because of the way tires are designed.  It is important to dispose of tires stored outside for this reason, said Pate.

Pate stated that participants who took advantage of this event had many positive comments.

The event was sponsored by the City of Brownwood and Brownwood Independent School District.