Florida C&D Landfill Catches Fire

A three-acre area of the Highlands County construction and demolition debris landfill that caught fire Oct. 18 could burn until the new year, Ben Henley, Highlands County 9-1-1 communication coordinator, has told the News-Sun (South Sebring, Fla.). 

No official cause for the fire has been determined, according to the report, but Jerry Leszkiewicz, county solid waste management director, tells the News-Sun that it may have been sparked by a “hot load”¾one that had started to smolder just before it was collected or after it was dumped.

The burning area is three acres wide and 35 to 40 feet deep, and contains thousands of cubic yards of material, the paper reports.

Firefighters and landfill personnel dug fire breaks into the pile and hope it will burn itself out over time, according to the News-Sun.