We don’t often consider landfills, but fire departments have to. More than 8,000 landfill fires occur yearly in the United States and they are among the most difficult blazes to extinguish. They often smolder and become firmly established before they are noticed. They burn underneath landfill contents as well as in visible areas.
“That’s exactly what happened at a landfill between the Alabama suburbs of Moody and Trussville,” says Jeff Gilmer, Owner of Paul Davis Restoration of Greater Birmingham, Alabama, where a landfill blaze has been burning for months. “Nearby neighbors complain of headaches, nosebleeds and breathing problems. Many residents have temporarily relocated. But finding another place to live wasn’t possible for one family.”
The fire began in late November at the landfill, which receives only vegetative wastes like trees, branches, shrubbery, leaves and similar materials. The Moody Fire Department fought the blaze but could not extinguish it. The Alabama Forestry Commission then built a fire break to protect nearby properties. Today, the flames continue and thick smoke blankets the community.
As neighbors fled, one family stayed put because their home had been tailored specifically for their special needs child. “Their 13-year-old son has autism, epilepsy and genetic disorders,” Gilmer explains. “To keep him safe, the family had installed multiple locks on doors and bolted furniture to walls and floors to avoid tipping. Any other location would not have the safety features this family needed. So, our hearts went out to this family confronted with so much adversity. We had to help them.”
Gilmer and his team brought in and set up high-powered air scrubbers in the house to purify indoor air. Family members further sealed the home with tape and plastic on windows. With scrubber filters swapped out twice a week, the stop gap measures have enabled the family to stay put.
“The best solution, of course, is to extinguish the fire,” Gilmer concludes. “But that has proven challenging and we’re proud to be part of the interim solution for this family.”