Massive Woodchip Pile Ignites, Burns For Days

By Andrew Gorosko

A stubbornly smoldering fire caused by spontaneous combustion that had been burning for several days within a massive pile of woodchips at the town’s waste transfer station off Ethan Allen Road, was whipped by high winds into a significant blaze early on the morning of Monday, April 9.

As volunteer firefighters from five local fire companies arrived at the scene about 12:15 am, they found a huge orange glowing woodchip pile emitting flames and thick white smoke.

The high winds pushed the fire across a grassy area east of the woodchip pile in the direction of houses on River Run and Turkey Hill Road, but firefighters were able to stop the blaze from spreading to that area.

There were no reported injuries in the incident.

The huge pile of rough-grade woodchips, estimated at about 7,500 cubic yards in volume, contained the shredded remains of the local brush that was damaged by Winter Storm Alfred last October and Tropical Storm Irene last August.

Those cuttings initially occupied about 30,000 cubic yards, but were reduced to about 7,500 cubic yards after shredding.

As the woodchips sat in a huge pile across time, they decomposed, naturally generating heat and eventually causing fire that then traveled to the surface of the chip pile. The fire was first reported at about 5:30 am on Good Friday, April 6.

Initially, Botsford firefighters responded to the fire call, thoroughly hosing down the smoldering pile and having town earthmoving equipment start pulling the pile apart to stunt its combustion.

From April 6 to April 9, the Botsford volunteers returned to the smoldering fire about a dozen times, following calls from passersby that the fire in the woodchip pile had persisted and rekindled.

Botsford Fire Chief Wayne Ciaccia, who was incident commander, said on April 11, that much of the huge pile had been carted away to other places, robbing the blaze of fuel and thus its ability to continue burning.

Initially, Botsford firefighters had opted to handle the firefighting duties themselves, when considering that it was the Easter holiday weekend, he said.

Firefighters returned to the site again and again, as fire calls continued to come in from the public repeatedly warning that the fire had not been extinguished, he said.

Conditions at the scene caused the fire to flare up repeatedly, Chief Ciaccia noted.

The high winds of late Sunday night and early Monday morning accelerated the fire burning within the pile, requiring that all five local fire companies respond to the scene to fight the intense blaze, he said.  

About 50 firefighters responded to the scene, he said. By about 3:30 am on Monday, the fire was knocked down, he said. “It’s very labor-intensive,” Chief Ciaccia said.

Firefighters shot water at the blaze from hose lines mounted atop extended aerial ladders.

The local water company asked the firefighters at about 8:30 am on Monday to stop drawing water from a fire hydrant on nearby South Main Street due to low water pressure concerns, the fire chief said.

The firefighting effort had used more than 300,000 gallons of water from the water system, he said. Firefighters then drafted water from nearby ponds, he said.

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead said that by Wednesday morning, much of the woodchip pile had been hauled away from the site to defuse the combustion. Haulers deposited the woodchips in various locations, he said.

The fire marshal said that the woodchip pile at the waste transfer station was the largest fire of its type at that facility in memory.

Mr Halstead said that creating such big piles of woodchips can create fire hazards based on the prospect of spontaneous combustion occurring. He noted, however, that the pile was created following two unusually severe storms last year which caused extensive vegetation damage locally.

Dry windy weather conditions accelerate the effects of spontaneous combustion within woodchip piles, allowing the surface of the piles to dry and ignite, he said.

Mr Halstead said there likely was fire burning within the woodchip pile for some period of time before the fire became apparent on Good Friday.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said April 11 that a New Hampshire-based contractor has been hauling away the woodchips that had caught fire.