Rubbish truck fire prompts bin reminder

A rubbish truck driver’s quick decision to dump, plus rapid responses from Picton’s volunteer firefighters, prevented serious damage after hot ashes caused a fire in a truck recently.

The driver noticed smoke and offloaded the waste into the car park of the Picton Cemetery on Tuesday.

While no damage resulted, Marlborough District Council and Waste Management were quick to warn residents to check nothing flammable – including ashes, batteries and butane gas cylinders – is put out in wheelie bins.

“The example in Picton was quite routine, and the driver did the correct procedures for both his safety, the safety of the vehicle and of the public”, said Waste Management Marlbororugh Branch Manager Paul Withers.

“The cause was from hot ashes someone had put in their kerbside bins which hadn’t had the time to cool down thoroughly and lit other surrounding rubbish.

“The driver found a kerbside when he observed smoke and went through a well-versed emergency system where they got the rubbish out, called dispatch and had the fire extinguished.

“We’re very fortunate that this is our first rubbish fire in Marlborough in a while, but they are all dangerous, not only impacting our drivers but also the entire region’s rubbish collection.”

Council’s Solid Waste Manager Mark Lucas said ashes retained heat for days and could start fires in household rubbish bins, rubbish trucks, transfer stations and landfills. “You should safely dispose of ashes by emptying into a metal bin, pouring water over them and leaving for five days to cool,” he said.

“It is important that only cold ashes go in the red rubbish bin.”

“Batteries, butane cannisters, gas bottles and helium cylinders also pose a huge fire risk and can’t be disposed of as general waste in your kerbside bin or any transfer station.

“These can all be safely recycled at the Hazardous Waste Centre or at the regional transfer stations in the hazardous waste section.”

For a full list of small battery drop off locations go to: www.marlborough.govt.nz/services/recycling-and-waste/hazardous-waste/dry-cell-and-small-batteries