A fire that broke out at the Dunedin City Council’s Green Island Landfill has now been extinguished without causing any damage to nearby property.
The initial blaze began in the early hours of Monday morning, before being reported to the Fire Service and the DCC at 3.20am. Council group manager for waste and water Dr Laura McElhone assured Dunedin residents and those in nearby homes that the “fire was located on the tip face where recent rubbish had been deposited and well away from other ignitable sources.”
A video on Stuff.co.nz showed the landfill with a plethora of smoke rising from the surface of one side of the landfill, multiple fire trucks present at the scene, and their gear laid out before the blazing fire.
McElhone continued: “After firefighters contained the blaze, landfill staff used diggers to break up the affected pile of rubbish and remove it to a clay surface. Firefighters are continuing to dampen the affected area [on 18/04/16] to reduce the chances of it reigniting.”
The landfill has reopened to the public and rubbish collections are continuing as normal today. “There has been no smoke since around 8am [on Monday last week] and therefore any smoke risk to residents in the area”, she concluded.