I.C. landfill fire still under investigation

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Fire Department doesn't yet know what caused a fire at the Iowa City Landfill, where a tire-fueled blaze burned for months three years ago.

Battalion Chief Brian Platz said when crews cleared the scene at the landfill shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, the fire had been left smothered under a layer of clay. As of Monday, that clay has yet to be removed so investigators can determine the cause and origin of the fire, which was reported around 9 p.m. Friday.

'I know they were going to talk this morning about when they were going to make that decision to open it back up,' Platz said Monday. 'Until that time, we won't know the cause or origin.'

The call originally came in as a grass fire, but responding crews determined it was actually garbage that was burning in a small area of the landfill. Mutual aid from the Hills, Tiffin and North Liberty responded to the landfill to assist in extinguishing the fire.

Firefighters responded to a fire at the landfill on May 26, 2012. The blaze burned for weeks, sending a plume of smoke into the air that was visible for miles. While the fire was eventually covered and the landfill reopened on June 11, authorities said it smoldered under the layer of clay until August of that year.

Platz said Monday that he doesn't expect to find anything still smoldering under the clay covering the Friday night fire, noting that the trash compaction process eliminates most of the oxygen required to fuel the fire.

'My expectation the fire is out,' he said. 'Until we open it back up, we won't know that ... I really find it hard to believe we'd have much by way of smoldering material.'

So, why was Friday night's fire contained in a couple of hours yet the 2012 fire burned for months? The difference is in the materials, Platz said.

In 2012, the fire started in a new garbage cell, which was lined with a rubber tire aggregate. According to information on the city's website, the 2012 fire was fueled by the equivalent of 1.3 million tires in a 7.5 acre fire area. In the case of Friday night's fire, the only material that caught fire was garbage, Platz said.

'The most significance difference was just what was burning,' he said. 'It was, hands down, a night and day difference.'

Platz estimated, based on the age of the cell where the fire was located Friday night, that the fire was never very close to the liner of the cell.