close

Large compost pile continues to smolder in Greene County

4 min read
1 / 4

A compost pile smolders Tuesday along Hopkins Run Road in Morris Township.

2 / 4

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire Tuesday at a large compost pile on Hopkins Run Road in Morris Township.

3 / 4

Gordon Henry, firefighter with the Morris Township Volunteer Fire Company, sprays water on the perimeter of the fire.

4 / 4

A bulldozer spreads burning wood compost Tuesday at a composting site on Hopkins Run Road in Morris Township.

SYCAMORE – Firefighters are expected to today continue attempting to extinguish a fire in a large compost pile on Hopkins Run Road in Morris Township, Greene County, that has sent heavy smoke into the air since Monday.

The fire started Monday afternoon in the pile of wood compost that covers about one acre of land on a hilltop that is also the former site of the Morris Township landfill.

The fire did not threaten any homes or other structures in the area, said Rich Policz, operations and training officer for the Greene County Emergency Management Agency, who helped coordinate efforts at the scene. A gas well rig could be seen on a hill across the valley more than a mile away.

The company that operates the composting site, North Suburban Tree Service of Gibsonia, brought an excavator to the property Tuesday morning and used it and a bulldozer on site to spread the pile so firefighters could douse the smoldering material.

No public water lines serve the remote area; however, arrangements were made with EQT to draw water from one of its clean water impoundments on WW Railroad Road to aid in the firefighting effort, Policz said.

Firefighters remained on scene Tuesday afternoon. At about 4:30 p.m., Greg Leathers, EMA director, said some headway was being made in extinguishing the fire but much work remained to be done.

About one-eighth of the pile had been addressed, he said. Leathers said he wasn’t sure whether the firefighting effort would continue through Tuesday night.

State Department of Environmental Protection representatives also responded to the scene. DEP spokesman John Poister said the agency was there only to monitor the heavy smoke.

Smoke from the smoldering pile Tuesday morning filled the valley east of the property and continued to stream off the large pile as a strong wind rose and fell.

The fire primarily was confined to the site though burned leaves in wooded areas surrounding the site indicated it had made several small forays from the pile that apparently had been extinguished by firefighters.

Firefighters were concerned “hot ambers” blown from the pile might spread fire into a nearby wooded area, Policz said.

The smoke also was a concern, he said. “The smoke is so bad it’s filling the valley, which could affect anyone with respiratory problems,” he said.

Firefighters from the Morris Township and Center Township volunteer fire companies were called to the site twice Monday afternoon, the first time about 4:30 p.m. They left the property about midnight.

The fire “was stable,” when firefighters left Monday night, Policz said. “It was still burning but there was a man here monitoring the situation overnight in case it did go up,” he said.

In addition, Policz said, little could be done to extinguish the fire until more water and equipment could be brought to the site.

Stephen Blum, vice president of North Suburban, was on the scene Monday and stayed at the property overnight. Blum estimated 300 cubic yards of compost were on the property, which the company leases from Morris Township.

The company clears trees from construction sites and chips up the wood. It then grinds the chips into smaller particles and composts the material, Blum said. The compost is then used to make “filter socks,” long tubes of compost that are placed on the ground around construction sites to prevent erosion.

Blum said he believed the fire started from spontaneous combustion and might have smoldering for a while before “a change in the weather made it flare up.”

Fire companies had been called to the property four times in the last month to extinguish smoldering material, Policz said. Blum said he wasn’t aware of the previous fire calls, though he believes company workers visited the site during that time.

The company has leased the property from the township for about three years. Township supervisor Bob Keller, who was on scene Tuesday, said the township has had no problems with the company’s operations.

Other fire companies that assisted in fighting the fire were from West Finley, Amwell Township and Graysville.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today