At around 1:00 a.m., a fire broke out on a 6000 m³ outdoor pile of wood mulch (collected from civic amenity sites and coated with varnish, paint, glue, etc.) at a waste sorting and dispatching facility. A third party alerted emergency services. A team of 50 firefighters arrived. As the site was far from the fire station, some equipment had to be flown in. The firefighters first extinguished the flames with water and additive before switching to plain water. The unaffected piles of waste were taken away by heavy machinery to prevent the fire spreading. As the plume of smoke drifted towards several villages, 354 people at three schools and 100 people at an assisted-living facility were told to shelter in place. The Prefect issued a press release advising the valley’s inhabitants to keep their doors and windows closed, avoid going outdoors unless necessary, and avoid physical activities outdoors. Air samples taken by firefighters at various points revealed small concentrations of formaldehyde and benzene. Although the firefighters had closed the firewater containment shut-off valve upon arriving, a portion flowed into the creek near the site. Samples were taken upstream and downstream for analysis. It took three days to extinguish the fire.  The operator took the burnt waste away and had the site monitored. Operations at the site continued without further interruption. Subsequent deliveries of wood waste were despatched to other facilities.

Multiple non-conformities were found during an inspection visit. A formal notification order was subsequently issued:

• The amount of wood stored at the site exceeded the authorised limits. The operator explained that this was because a lot of wood waste had been brought in during August, a month when many wood panel manufacturers (recycling of class B wood) and hauliers are on holiday.
• The wood piles were too close to the site’s property lines. Not only did this increase the risk of the fire spreading, but it made access by firefighters difficult.
• Trees and branches near the wood piles helped the fire to spread.
• The wood piles were partially located on non-impervious areas, allowing firewater to seep into the ground.

The site had been closed since the previous day. No anomalies had been found during the final monitoring round at the end of the day. As the fire had started on the surface of the pile, the operator suspected arson. The embankment along one edge of the site is unfenced, enabling anyone to enter the site. As the wood piles are out of view of the site’s CCTV cameras, the fire’s exact cause remains unknown.