ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Pinellas County judge on Tuesday ordered a St. Petersburg tire business to start covering its uncovered tire piles, part of a city case that treats the stacks as a breeding risk for the mosquitoes spreading dengue fever across the Tampa Bay area.
The city went to court against Thach Tire and Rim on 16th Street North, arguing in filings that open tires had been kept on the property since at least April and amounted to a threat to public health. Rainwater that sits inside a tire can become a nursery for mosquito larvae, which is why health officials single out tire piles.
Judge Amy Williams of the Sixth Judicial Circuit turned down the city’s request for a temporary injunction, finding the shop was already working on the problem. She did side with the city on several points: the tires must be tarped by 4 p.m. Wednesday and again at the end of every business day, and the remaining tires must be removed or moved into a closed container by 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, or within 24 hours if the container shows up first. The family said a container has been ordered, and one enclosed unit is already in use.
County officials have kept an emergency declaration and a health alert for mosquito-spread illness in place. The latest state health report, dated Oct. 30, counted 456 locally acquired dengue cases in the Tampa Bay region, 67 of them in Pinellas County.
County mosquito control says the two species that carry the virus, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, lay eggs in anything that holds water near homes and businesses, even a bottle cap’s worth, and bite during the day. Crews have stepped up inspections and are working with Lee County on helicopter larvae treatments over parts of St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Residents are asked to empty standing water, use repellent and cover up outdoors.
Filed under: St. Petersburg FL Health News
