On a Saturday at around 2:50 p.m., the automatic fire detection system went off at a landfill. The private security company monitoring the site alerted the firefighters, who found 30 m² of waste on fire. While they drenched the waste, heavy-equipment operators spread land over it starting.The land came from the reserve located near the landfill. The firefighters left at around 5:00 p.m. The operator organised three daily monitoring rounds over the following days.

As the fire had remained on the surface, the waterproof membrane’s integrity (10 m between the waste and the membrane at this spot) was intact. However, the membrane bioreactor and a leachate inspection manhole were damaged.

The fire may have been started by the heat, dry weather, and wind of the previous days.

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After the incident, the following corrective actions were taken:

• As the employees, who had been contacted by the security company following the alarm, were not aware of the procedure to be followed, a procedure is now in place to ensure that information regarding emergencies is passed on more efficiently.
• An emergency vehicle access point has now been marked near the cell. The firefighters were forced to move their engines so that operators could access the fire and cover it with earth.

A similar fire occurred on the site in December 2016 (ARIA 48865).