Published: February 20, 2013 7:00 AM
A fire broke out at the Watch Lake Landfill and brought firefighters out early on Feb. 14.
Watch Lake/North Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department (WLNGLVFD) chief Andy Palaniak says the call, reporting the wood waste pile was burning, came in at 6:30 a.m.
“It had likely been burning for hours. It was a large, maybe 100 metres across and 10 metres high.”
There was “no way” his crews could extinguish a fire that size, Palaniak explains, so he immediately contacted the Cariboo Regional District, which operates the landfill, and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
“The CRD sent a contractor down with some heavy equipment to keep it under control, and then once he got there, we blocked off the access road and then we left.”
The WLNGLVFD was on site for about two-and-a-half hours, he adds, until the contractor and traffic controllers took over the scene.
“My understanding was they were just going to let it burn because there was nothing we could do about it anyway, with all the wood.”
Public access to the dump remained closed until the next day (Feb. 15), with the surrounding area noticing some smoky air for at least another two days after that.
Palaniak notes there was a significant amount of green waste that fed the flames.
“The area that was burning was probably a half an acre in size, so it’s a massive woodpile.”
Second dump fire
The Lone Butte Volunteer Fire Department was called out for a Feb. 12 dumpster fire at the transfer station on Highway 24 near Irish Lake.
Chief Jaret Scott says two apparatus and seven firefighters attended and quickly extinguished the fire.
While it is not known what started either of the fires, Scott notes a frequent cause of these fires is hot ashes or coal from wood stoves and fireplaces. He reminds folks to pay attention to what they are throwing into the transfer containers or landfills.
“Don’t throw anything that might start a fire into a dumpster.”
