Fire at Newhall Recycling Yard May Burn Several Days

A stubborn fire at a Newhall recycling yard may keep burning several more days, officials said Wednesday.

A smoldering compost heap drew firefighters to the Santa Clarita Greenwaste and Construction Recycling yard inside a small canyon on Pine Street about 4 a.m. Tuesday.

By Wednesday afternoon, firefighters had poured more than 17 million gallons of water on the 80-foot-high pile of leaves, wood chips and other organic debris.

Officials said this was the third time in two weeks that firefighters have been called to the site. A fire that began Aug. 28 may have continued to smolder deep within the pile, they said.

“It’s still burning and it’s a mess,” Inspector Ed Loney of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. “The problem is that it’s difficult to get the water to the seed of the fire when it’s in a big heap like this.”

*

About 30 firefighters and bulldozer operators sprayed water and spread the debris around Wednesday to stamp out hot spots. Smoke from the fire at times drifted into nearby neighborhoods.

Some of that smoke blew in the direction of Santa Clarita Convalescent Hospital, where firefighters worked with hospital employees to cover door and window openings with wet towels to keep the smoke out.

“Because of close cooperation with the Fire Department we were able to take measures to ensure that the smoke didn’t become a problem,” said Mary Duggan, director of nursing at the hospital. “When you go outside it’s very obvious but inside you can hardly tell at all.”

Fire officials believe the fire started through spontaneous combustion. Battalion Chief John Harris said it appeared the recycling yard’s owner violated fire codes by stacking the materials too high and by not having adequate fire hydrants on the property.

“First of all, these types of places should not be put in canyons,” Harris said. “The Los Angeles County Fire Department has set rules when a business like this goes into operation. Somehow we were not brought into the loop on this occupancy.”

The owner, identified by city officials as Hank Arkin of Santa Clarita, could not be reached for comment.

Harris said it would probably take several days for firefighters to work their way to the bottom of the compost heap to ensure the fire does not reignite.

“We’re going to have to move the entire pile with our tractors,” Harris said. “We don’t want this thing to get away again.”

*

Meanwhile, up to 228,000 gallons of water per minute was being used to soak the smoldering pile, about enough to fill nine backyard swimming pools every 60 seconds.

“The city is upset about this, the Fire Department is upset, the Department of Fish and Game is upset, the [South Coast] Air Quality Management District is upset and we’re upset too,” said Tom Schollenberger, general manager of the Newhall County Water District. “No one likes to see this much water poured on a big dump.”