Huge tyre fire brought under control in Melbourne, Australia

An enormous tyre fire that blanketed the Australian city of Melbourne in smoke is now under control though it could burn for another 24 hours, authorities said Tuesday.

Around 70 local firefighters battled the blaze throughout the night, before declaring on Tuesday that the situation was contained.

The tyre fire, which occurred at a junk yard in Melbourne's north, sent a plume of black smoke 75 kilometers across the city on Monday.

The Melbourne Fire Brigade estimated that around 70 percent of the 150,000 tyres on site have been burned - or 105,000 in total.

Incident controller Peter Thomas of the fire brigade said the blaze could still burn for another 24 hours due to the nature of the fire.

"The crews have worked pretty hard overnight and knocked it right down to a point where we've been able to get some machinery in, some excavators and bulldozers, to start pulling the pile apart," Thomas told the Australian Broadcast Corporation on Tuesday.

"So that's the only way we're really going to extinguish it, to get to the bottom of the deep-seated fire.

"With these things, big piles of rubbish basically made of rubber... you've got to get right down to the bottom to make sure you extinguish all the hotspots in the fire."

Australia's Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring the air quality of surrounding areas.

Melbourne residents have been told to shelter indoors if they smell the potentially toxic smoke.

Investigators believe the fire was not intentionally lit, but will conduct further tests once the fire has been extinguished. Enditem