Carson City landfill fire extinguished after five days, fire chief says; cause still unknown
According to Carson City Fire Chief Sean Slamon, the landfill fire was extinguished early Monday after burning for a little over five days.
Shortly before 5 p.m. late Wednesday afternoon, firefighters were dispatched to the landfill for what was initially reported as a 50 foot by 50 foot active fire. The landfill was closed Thursday while firefighters worked to suppress the flames, but reopened on Friday for the public.
While the fire has been extinguished, Slamon said some materials will continue to smolder for the next few days.
"Landfill and fire department crews will continue to monitor to ensure that there is not a reignition," Slamon said. "There is no threat or danger to the public."
At this time, the cause of the fire is still unknown. The area that the fire burned in contained power poles, large trees, and heavy timber construction materials.
"The challenges we faced extinguishing this fire were access and the size of the burning material," Slamon said. "Because of the density of the material and the many void spaces, it was very difficult to extinguish."
However, Slamon noted several positive takeaways during this incident.
"The clearance around this area prevented the fire from spreading into the wildland or other parts of the landfill," Slamon said. "Another positive was that we have had previous training with landfill crews and we worked seamlessly together to accomplish the objective of extinguishing the fire. We had landfill employees and firefighters working on this incident 24 hours a day for several days during what has been the hottest part of the year. Our crews are to be commended for their efforts."
We will update with the cause when it is determined. Multiple landfill fires in the past have been due to improperly disposed of rechargeable batteries, but at this time, the cause remains unknown.