SUFFOLK, Va. — Firefighters responded to a fire at the Southeastern Public Service Authority Regional Landfill in Suffolk Monday night, battling the blaze into early Tuesday morning.
When crews arrived, they found a hill on the landfill was on fire and quickly jumped into action, but getting to the flames was not easy.
Firefighters had to pull a hose hundreds of feet up the hill while wearing full fire gear.
"500 foot up a hill pulling a hoseline, that's with all your firefighting gear, breathing apparatus, cause you don't know what's burning, you need to protect yourself," Battalion Chief Chuck Knight said.
Knight was not on scene Monday night, but says his crews faced another obstacle when they reached the fire: finding enough water to keep fighting it.
Crews drafted water from a pond on the property to maintain their attack on the blaze.
Even after knocking down the flames, crews spent hours covering the damaged area with dirt to prevent reignition.
"You make a decision at that point, do you dig into the pile more or do you put dirt on it and hope that it smothers the fire out," Knight said.
Crews got everything under control within a few hours. No one was injured.
As for what started the fire, Knight says there is no way to pinpoint the cause because of all the trash inside the landfill. Authorities also believe there was no major environmental impact.
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