SOUTH BEND — Ponderosa Landfill’s residential customers are being asked to postpone dropping off waste at the Blue Earth County site that was the scene of a fire Tuesday evening.
No structures on the site were affected by the fire. The landfill is operating under normal hours today; however, residential customers are requested to wait until Monday or later to drop off waste.
Firefighters responded to a 6:20 p.m. call reporting a fire at 20028 Gooseberry Lane. When they arrived, they found flames in the northwest corner of the landfill, a Blue Earth County press release said. The affected corner is the working face — also called the active cell — of the landfill.
A damages estimate is not yet available and the cause of the fire is still unknown.
The press release included a reminder that unwanted batteries should brought to the Blue Earth County Household Hazardous Waste Facility instead of the landfill. Improper disposal of batteries is a leading cause of fires at landfills, recycling centers and in garbage trucks. That type of fire starts quickly, burns at high temperatures and is considered a high safety risk for people working at the site of an incident.