Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters used hooked poles Tuesday mornng to pick through and separate the trash which had been burning inside a garbage truck. The need to extinguish the garbage fire and clean up the mess left behind closed down a 1500-foot long section of Main Street for nearly three hours, resulting in traffic tie-ups in adjacent areas.--Bee Photo, Gorosko
The discovery of trash on fire within a traveling garbage truck resulted in the shutdown of a 1,500-foot-long section of Main Street on Tuesday morning, causing traffic tie-ups in adjacent areas and travel delays through town.
At 8:29 am, Newtown Hook & Ladder and Hawleyville firefighters were dispatched to Main Street, at its intersection with Hanover Road, where trash was burning inside a garbage truck operated by Associated Refuse Haulers of Newtown.
Main Street was closed to through traffic from about 8:30 to 11:15 am between its intersections with Schoolhouse Hill Road and with Church Hill Road.
Firefighters used about 1,000 gallons of water from a nearby hydrant to put out the smoldering fire. Because the blaze was located in garbage well within the truck's garbage bay, the truck needed to be unloaded of its trash to completely extinguish the fire.
Water which was poured on the fire ran off the truck with a dark pink color cast, resulting in fire officials calling in the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to check on whether the trash held any hazardous materials.
A DEP inspection then indicated that the trash could be safely reloaded into a dumpster for its disposal.
Because the Main Street pavement had become slippery after firefighters poured water onto the burning garbage, the road was sanded to absorb slippery substances, and that sand was then collected by a street sweeping machine before the roadway was reopened to traffic.
Fire officials said the fire was of undetermined origin and most likely accidental in nature. There were no injuries.
A full report on the incident will be published in the October 23, 2009, edition of
The Newtown Bee.