Fire at landfill contained

This story was updated at 11:15 a.m.

ROSEBURG — A trash fire that erupted overnight at the Douglas County Landfill has been contained.

Tom Manton from the Douglas County Public Works Department said about 11 a.m. that the fire was still smoldering but crews had extinguished the flames and were pushing dirt over burning areas to smother it.

An inversion caused by cooler air moving into the Roseburg area formed a haze and kept smoke trapped. County officials believe it will dissipate as it warms up late this morning and in the afternoon.

People with respiratory problems are advised to remain indoors or limit activities outside until the smoke clears.

Department of Environmental Quality Natural Resource Specialist Byron Peterson said that the public should avoid breathing the smoke as much as possible. People near the smoke should stay indoors if they can.

“Breathing smoke is certainly unhealthy, and it’s a landfill, so you don’t know what’s in there,” he said.

The fire, which started shortly after midnight, was burning over about a 3-acre portion of the garbage pit at the landfill, Douglas Forest Protective Association spokesman Tom Fields said. Flames had been visible from Interstate 5, which passes by the landfill.

“We’ll be out there all day,” he said earlier this morning.

The landfill is closed to the public today. Although outlying transfer stations will be open, county residents are being asked to avoid dumping their garbage at those locations until the fire can be put out.

“It would be nice if people waited a day to dispose of their trash. We don’t have anywhere to take it right now after those trailers get filled up,” said Robb Paul, the county’s Public Works director.

Roseburg Disposal and other commercial haulers will be allowed to enter the landfill property to dump their loads. There is a flat area where that trash can be dumped and held temporarily until the fire is put out and it can be placed into the garbage pit.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this point.

“We don’t know if it was hot ashes or what,” Paul said.

A night watchman finished his shift at 10 p.m. and did not report anything out of the ordinary, Paul said. His department received a call at 1 a.m. from the dispatch center at the Sheriff’s Office to notify officials that the landfill pit was on fire.

Douglas County has six water tenders and several workers at the site, while Douglas County Fire District No. 2 sent three engine companies and five firefighters and a foam truck, while DFPA sent two engines and six people.

The county also pressed into duty a truck normally used to spray herbicide. Its tank was filled with water and was being used to augment the other fire trucks, Paul said.

This is the original version of the story.

ROSEBURG — A trash fire erupted overnight at the Douglas County Landfill, sending a thick plume of smoke skyward, with flames visible from adjacent Interstate 5.

The fire, which started shortly after midnight, is burning over about a 3-acre portion of the garbage pit at the landfill, Douglas Forest Protective Association spokesman Tom Fields said.

“We’ll be out there all day,” he said.

The landfill will be closed to the public today. Although outlying transfer stations will be open, county residents are being asked to avoid dumping their garbage at those locations until the fire can be put out.

“It would be nice if people waited a day to dispose of their trash. We don’t have anywhere to take it right now after those trailers get filled up,” said Robb Paul, the county’s Public Works director.

Roseburg Disposal and other commercial haulers will be allowed to enter the landfill property to dump their loads. There is a flat area where that trash can be dumped and held temporarily until the fire is put out and it can be placed into the garbage pit.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this point.

“We don’t know if it was hot ashes or what,” Paul said.

A night watchman finished his shift at 10 p.m. and did not report anything out of the ordinary, Paul said. His department received a call at 1 a.m. from the dispatch center at the Sheriff’s Office to notify officials that the landfill pit was on fire.

Douglas County has six water tenders and several workers at the site, while Douglas County Fire District No. 2 sent three engine companies and five firefighters and a foam truck, while DFPA sent two engines and six people.

The county also pressed into duty a truck normally used to spray herbicide. Its tank was filled with water and was being used to augment the other fire trucks, Paul said.