A now-contained fire at a Central Okanagan landfill has firefighters urging residents to take a second glance at what they throw into the garbage.
A blaze at the Glenmore landfill in Kelowna had firefighters rushing to the scene at 5:15 p.m. Sunday.
Black smoke filled the air above the landfill and there were some visible orange flames.
Platoon Captain Henry Roelofs with the Kelowna Fire Department says the fire is not suspicious, adding it was likely the result of something that got dumped by a resident.
“It’s just one of those things that happen. It’s likely it was something that came in on one of the trucks,” he said.
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“It’s very unlikely that it would ever be spontaneous.”
Landfill employees used a plow to push the garbage around so firefighters could get better access to hot spots.
“These fires tend to be deep seated really quickly,” Roelofs said, noting the challenges for firefighters were water and access.
Crews were on scene for about three hours putting out the flames. Firefighters used 4,000 gallons of water to wet the area down. Roelofs says the amount used was comparable to how much water that fire crews use to combat bush fires. About 50 gallons are normally used at structure fires.
Roelofs says people need to use common sense before dumping garbage at the landfill.
“Ensure you’re not putting anything in your garbage that could possibly be on fire. People will take a container that they’re been putting cigarettes into and wind up throwing that away into the garbage,” he said.
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