NEW BEDFORD – A rapidly spreading fire at a scrap tire recycling business Thursday produced enough smoke to be seen from Fall River and drew all of the city’s fire apparatus, as well as off-duty firefighters and mutual aid from Dartmouth, Acushnet, Freetown and Fairhaven to knock it down.

New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger said his department began receiving multiple 911 calls on the fire at Bob’s Tire Co., 55 Brook St., at about 11:49 a.m.

He said, “The smoke could be seen far and wide.” Upon arrival crews saw heavy fire extending from the three-story brick building “in all directions,” he said.

Kruger added, “We had some people coming in from Fall River. They said they actually saw the smoke from Fall River. At the beginning this area was just covered with thick black smoke.”

Firefighters had to be pulled out of the building early on because the conditions were unsafe, he said.

There are tire shredding devices inside the building, he said, and it had a difficult layout. “We had to be careful. We had guys trying to enter with large hose lines trying to see if they could get a handle on this fire early on and we had to pull them out of the buildings. It was too dangerous to operate in there.”

He added, “I’m always proud of them and they did a great job.”

Fire damage to the building was very extensive, he said.

According to its website, the company provides scrap tire removal services throughout all the New England states and New York. Its tire shredders break down the tires into small chips which are then shipped to another facility for use as tire-derived fuel. Some of the tires are processed for use by the local fishing industry as netting.

The fire had been mostly knocked down by 2 to 2:30 p.m. but firefighters had extensive overhaul work to complete.

“It’s an extensive operation. We have a lot of rehab. It’s a warm day today. We have the state Department of Fire Services Rehab, Providence Canteen here. EMS is set up in multiple locations. We have cooling stations set up,” Kruger said at the scene Thursday afternoon.

He added that they were going to be on site for a lengthy period of time. Firefighters were using heavy equipment in and around the building to clear out piles of tires that had caught on fire.

There were occasional flare-ups as well within the building. “We’re proceeding with caution. The building suffered a lot of fire damage today. We put a lot of water into it so we just have to be cautious about it.”

He said the fire was considered accidental at this time. Workers were doing some tire shredding and the fire ensued, he said. They attempted to extinguish it themselves but were not successful.

The fire rapidly extended to tire storage inside the building and up to the roof. Due to the speed at which it was spreading, a general alarm was called early on.

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries.

He said the state Department of Environmental Protection was on hand, as were state Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey, and a state HazMat team.

Air quality was monitored, he said. They received a lot of support from New Bedford EMS and the New Bedford Police, who were “great as always.”