Monday morning, April 13, the Bayside and Kodiak Fire Departments put out a fire that started inside the Kodiak Island Borough landfill. No injuries or damage to infrastructure were reported.
According to a report from the Bayside Fire Department, around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, multiple fire trucks and crews worked a blaze that was burning through a roughly 20 by 12 feet area of compressed trash bales outside at the landfill. The department said landfill staff also assisted by operating heavy equipment to excavate the area and fully extinguish the fire.
All nine of the Bayside firefighters and three Kodiak firefighters who responded to the landfill fire were back in service at 9:30 a.m. Monday, about three hours after the initial call out.
Bayside’s Fire Chief Scott Ellis said in an email that this fire was accidental in nature and the cause is undetermined at this time. Ellis added that there was one bear in the landfill area that morning but the animal, “respected the operational needs of the fire department.”
