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Fire destroys Landfill tarps
Members of the Hastings Rural Fire Department and Hastings Solid Waste Landfill employees responded to a fire at the Landfill early morning Tuesday, Sept. 5.
The fire at the Landfill, 725 S. Southern Hills Drive, was reported by a passing motorist at 1 a.m. and put out by 3 a.m., Tuesday.
Landfill employees used heavy machinery to take dirt from a nearby pile and spread it over the inflamed area in the southwest portion of the landfill to suffocate the fire.
“It is a neat process to see them working together using big machinery,” Landfill Superintendent Michelle Hill said. “They do such a good job.”
Hastings Rural Fire Department crews sprayed the surrounding area with water to prevent the fire from spreading.
The fire also destroyed the pair of 30-foot by 107-foot weighted tarps that served as Alternate Daily Cover on the working area at the end of each day.
The Landfill is now using its backup tarp set and ordered a second set of tarps.
This is the second tarp set destroyed by fire in less than a month. The Landfill also had a fire on Aug. 15.
The working area of the Landfill is required to be covered at the end of each day. The Landfill also uses dirt to cover the working area, but tarps provide a more efficient option.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but Hill cautioned local residents to be aware of how they are disposing flammable items such as batteries and vape pens.
She said not to store spent batteries. Disposing batteries in glass containers or covering with sand are among the best methods to prevent fires.
The Landfill will take larger batteries, such as car batteries, power tool batteries and 6-volt and 12-volt batteries for free.
“Regarding the ‘smell’ in Hastings this week, this department was not the cause,” Hill said of the Landfill. “While landfills tend to not have a refreshing scent, I can understand why some may think this department was the culprit. What we all were smelling would have most likely been coming down wind from the manure being spread on the fields to the northwest of Hastings. We all work very diligently out here to keep strong odors managed. As for the fire that took place early Tuesday morning, the burn area was covered and suffocated prior to 3 a.m. which would have reduced any odor stemming from that incident.”
Published Date: 09/ 7/2023