SOUTH BEND — Nine local fire departments were called to fight a fire at Blue Earth County’s Ponderosa Landfill Tuesday night, but the blaze was not spreading beyond that property and did not affect landfill buildings.
“Right now it is contained,” said Blue Earth County Sheriff Jeff Wersal just before 8 p.m. “It’s all garbage that’s burning.”
A 911 call at 6:20 p.m. reported black smoke coming from the area, and the South Bend Fire Department was dispatched. With multiple additional reports of heavy smoke being called into the county’s communications center, mutual aid was requested from Lake Crystal and Good Thunder.
Less than an hour later, additional assistance was sought from fire departments in Eagle Lake, Madison Lake, Vernon Center, Pemberton, St. Clair and Mapleton.
Located more about six miles southwest of Mankato, the landfill doesn’t have city water service and the accompanying fire hydrants. The large number of departments mainly reflected the need to haul water to the scene.
“They’ve got as many trucks pouring water on it as they can,” Wersal said.
The fire came on a day when the National Weather Service issued a “Red Flag Warning” for nearly the entire state of Minnesota, meaning that “the fire situation is explosive and can result in extensive property damage.” The U.S. Forest Service closed portions of the Superior National Forest northwest of Duluth at noon due to a pair of forest fires.
The temperatures in Mankato hit 85 degrees with relative humidity at just 32% Tuesday afternoon, and Wersal said the dry conditions likely contributed to the fire’s growth.
“We don’t know what started it,” he said.
But it was contained to the landfill, which the county purchased from a private operator in 1996, and there were no reports of any injuries to the fire crews as of 8 p.m.
The Red Flag Warning was set to expire at 9 p.m. with humidity levels predicted to steadily rise throughout Wednesday. Up to a half-inch of rain is in the forecast for Thursday.