Third Annual Fairmont Town Council Tire Clean-Up

Ed & Barbara Rogers, Dave Hyatt and Larry Dunworth

Third Annual Fairmont Town Council Tire Clean-Up

Living in a rural community in Northwest Los Angeles County is fantastic...for the most part.  The views are breath taking, the skies are clear.  During the day you can see for miles and at night there are more stars than you can count.  It is peaceful and tranquil.  We live in the community of Fairmont, which is about 25 miles from Lancaster to the East and 25 miles from Gorman to the West, on the Los Angeles--Kern County line.

Skies in Fairmont are spectacular

The only scar on a mostly perfect place is that not-so-nice people use this beautiful desert as a dumping ground for all sorts of trash.  Los Angeles County is a very large and diverse place.  Over half of the county is rural.  There is a lot of ground to cover and the county Public Works Department simply cannot keep up with the illegal dumping that takes place in our deserts.

Desert trash and tires in Fairmont.

It is fortunate that the county has several programs to help mitigate the trash.  They offer free dump days for MATTRESSES,TIRES and household waste.  They provide a dumpster to rural communities for clean up days.  The Fairmont Town Council partnered with Public Works back in July to provide a place for residents to bring their over-sized trash.

Flyer from July's Clean up Event

Free permit to recycle 10+ tires

This month the LA County Public Works Department is offering a free tire recycling day on October 29th.  The Fairmont Town Council has participated in this free event the past two years and is participating this year as well.  If you have more than 10 tires you would like to recycle, the County requires a free permit.  It takes a little advance planning but the permit is free.

Council members Larry Dunworth and Barbara Rogers finding tires

Council members Larry Dunworth and Dave Hyatt

So with our permit in hand, our ragtag band of volunteers, aged 50 to 75 scoured the desert in the northeast portion of Fairmont and collected tires.  There were a total of five of us today, three members of the Town Council and two community members.  So how did I get roped into this?  My husband is on the Fairmont Town Council.  He's a great guy and I like being married to him.

Fairmont Town Council Members Larry Dunworth and Dave Hyatt

We focused today's efforts in the Northeast area of our community.  Unfortunately, there are many dump sites to choose from.  We collected tires from two large collections and picked up a few along the way.  Many of the tires, were off the beaten path, but we tried to get at all the tires we could!

Fairmont Town Council President, Barbara Rogers

Marti Lindsey even got into the act...only small tires for me

 Many of the tires were half buried or filled with sand, which made the process a little more difficult, but not impossible.We were extra careful, because snakes like to hide in the brush among the refuse.  The Mojave green is native to our area and the most poisonous snake in North America.

Larry working to remove sand from a tire

Ed Rogers filling up the dump trailer

We filled up Ed Rogers' fourteen foot dump trailer with over fifteen cubic yards of tires for recycling.  We forgot to keep an exact count, but I think there are close to 100 tires in there!

Larry and Ed congratulating each other on a job well done

Dave Hyatt throws another tire on

As the caravan made its way to the next locale, Dave's eagle eye spots several more tires along the road.  The rest of us use the trailer doors, Dave uses his amazing strength to just toss the tire over the top!  We also  had to stop so that Ed could balance the load.  Larry also has a serious case of "Trailer Envy"...just look at the size and majesty of Ed's dump trailer!

Stopped along 190th Street, West 

Ed Rogers, Barbara Rogers, Dave Hyatt & Larry Dunworth

So is the desert clear of tires?  Not by a long shot, but as volunteers we made a dent in the amount out there.  The ultimate solution would be to prevent people from dumping in the desert, but for now, all we can do is to try and clean up our little piece of paradise, a few tires at a time.

Cheers for now!

Marti

UPDATE:

Saturday, October 29, 2016

So Fairmont Town Council President, Barbara Rogers and her husband, Ed Rogers took the tires to one of the designated drop off points on Saturday morning.  There were 80 tires in the load, containing some rims and over-sized tires.  Thanks to all the volunteers for their collection and to Barbara and Ed for taking the tires in for Recycling!

Ed Rogers dropping off the collected tires.

Dump trailer doing its job...dumping tires

Until next year's Fairmont Town Council's Fourth Annual Tire Cleanup!

Cheers for now~

Marti