Trash Pit Catches Fire, County Investigating

By Jeffrey Gautreaux, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.

Jan. 14–Yuma County is investigating possible illegal dumping in a refuse pit that caught fire Thursday night northwest of the city.

Rural/Metro Fire Department public information officer John Fletcher said firefighters responded at 7 p.m. for a trash fire near Chapay Way and Strand Avenue. Firefighters were still on the scene cleaning up Friday afternoon.

Rick Stacks, environmental health manager for the county’s development services department, said the county determined who the owner of the property was but has more research to do on the zoning to see if the owner can have a refuse pit.

Stacks, who investigates illegal dumping for the county, declined to release the owner’s name. “The investigation is in its infancy,” he said.

A total of two fire engines, three water tenders and a battalion chief’s vehicle were sent out by Rural/Metro Thursday night and brought the fire under control, Fletcher said. A water tender and a brush truck were dispatched Friday to do cleanup work to ensure that the fire did not start again.

Rural/Metro put more than 200,000 gallons into the 15-foot deep trash pit in an attempt to extinguish the blaze, Stacks said. The cause of the fire is unknown, Fletcher said.

Stacks said household trash had not been placed in the pit, but it was filled with greenery, rubble, wood, palm fronds and other wastes.

With such heavy smoke in the area, Stacks said Rural/Metro suspended the burn permit of a nearby owner because of air quality concerns.

Stacks did not believe that the refuse pit represented a severe environmental concern, but he said it was located in an area with a high groundwater table.

“I don’t think there’s been any environmental compromises,” he said.

Jeffrey Gautreaux can be reached at jgautreaux@yumasun.com or 539-6858.

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