Warehouse Fire Trial Gets Under Way in West Virginia

A West Virginia man accused of illegally storing thousands of tires in a Nitro warehouse that caught fire and burned for nearly 24 hours is on trial this week.

Ricky Handley’s Kanawha County Circuit Court trial comes more than two years after the May 2006 fire.

In opening statements July 14, assistant prosecutor Jennifer Meadows said Handley continued to accept tires at the site in violation of a cease-and-desist order the state Department of Environmental Protection issued in 2005.

Defense attorney Duane Rosenlieb countered that U.S. Tire Recovery LLC’s owner should be held responsible, not Handley.

Rosenlieb said earlier that Handley sold the company before the fire.

Authorities estimate that more than 40,000 tires burned in the fire, which was later determined an arson.

___

Information from: The Charleston Gazette,
http://www.wvgazette.com