Jul 25, 2008

Palo Alto landfill blaze contained

Green compost sparked smoky fire

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

A load of green waste containing "combustible materials" caused Wednesday's fire at the Palo Alto landfill, officials said Thursday.

Firefighters from Palo Alto, Mountain View and Cal Fire worked with staff from the city's public works department to contain the blaze early Thursday morning, said Barbara Cimino, the Palo Alto Fire Department's emergency manager.

On Thursday, crews bulldozed 15-foot piles of compost to expose embers and hot spots, allowing firefighters to fully extinguish them, Cimino said. The compost contained no hazardous materials, she said.

Though Public Works Director Glenn Roberts expected the landfill to reopen today, he said the compost area would remain closed until sometime next week.

"Any time you have an incident you want to double-check and see if there are any improvements you can make," he said.
Roberts said the "fluke incident" started when a truck from Palo Alto Sanitation Co. dropped off a load of green waste, which typically contains lawn clippings and small tree limbs.

The load contained some kind of "combustible material," likely an item similar to a charcoal briquette, which a resident could have mistakenly thought was extinguished, Roberts said.

The fire spread rapidly to other compost materials. Landfill workers tried to extinguish the blaze, but called the fire department when it "spread more rapidly than they could handle," Roberts said.

The fire didn't damage any structures or major equipment, he said.

"It probably cost more in the time of people fighting the fire than it did in any damage itself," Roberts said.

Residents who need to get rid of compost may take materials to Sunnyvale's SMaRT station, located at 301 Carl Road.



E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.