Fires at composting facilities: Handling and extinguishing fires

Diligent monitoring of bulk organic materials at the site is the best preventive strategy - based on an understanding of how fires start and behave.

Part II

TIRES happen. At composting facilities, fires happen from spontaneous combustion, sparks from welders and hot equipment, lightning and wildfires. As Part I of this article points out, fires are not uncommon in the composting industry. Many facilities have had to deal with a fire. Yet it is encouraging that fires are not more common or more devastating, given the nature of composting - large volumes of organic materials, intentionally allowed to heat to temperatures approaching 150 deg F (65 deg C), and handled by and …