Sheldon, Iowa — A fire in the back of a garbage truck Monday morning illustrates the importance of not putting hot materials out for trash pick-up.
Monday morning, while running their Sheldon route, a Sheldon garbage hauler watched the monitor connected to the camera on the back of a truck as the mechanical arm emptied the receptacle, it looked like a puff of snow came from the can. After two more stops, the truck’s camera showed smoke coming from inside the compactor body.
After rushing back to the garbage hauler’s shop, they discovered flames inside the back of the garbage truck. With a garden hose and fire extinguisher the flames were knocked down, then the truck’s load was dumped out onto the ground where employees could spread them out and make sure that all the embers had been extinguished.
The hauler told KIWA that, apparently someone had emptied the ash from their fireplace into their trash bin, without first making sure there were no glowing embers, and moved it to the street for pick up. The hauler said once they got the fire out, they drove back to the residence and discovered a hole, described as being about the size of a basketball, in the back side of the trash receptacle.
The hauler reports minor damage to their garbage truck, but says it still works and is being used.
The hauler also reminds people to check any burned materials before putting them out to be picked up, to make absolutely certain there’s nothing in the receptacle that could spark a blaze.
