(La Porte, IN) - - Firefighters on Monday were in the second day of trying to put out a large burning public composting pile in La Porte.

 

The over 1,000 foot long pile of leaves, grass clippings, trees, branches and other yard waste at a 25 acre site on Zigler Road near the La Porte County Fairgrounds drew a response from firefighters about 1 p.m. on Sunday.

 

“We’ve been here ever since,” said LaPorte Assistant Fire Chief Kelly Burke.

 

Firefighters from Center and Coolspring townships were assisting with the roughly 150 foot long, 200 foot wide section of the pile that was burning.

 

Burke said composting pile fires much like burning peat moss in a bog are difficult to extinguish since water soaking into the ground might not be reaching hot spots deeper into the soil.  That’s why excavators were brought in to reach the burning material below the surface and spread it on the ground to be doused with water.

 

The pile is about 15 feet deep.  Burke said it was not known yet how deep into the composting pile the fire was burning.

 

”We’ve just been trying to knock it down, contain it as much as we can.  It is stubborn but we’re getting it,” he said.

 

Heavy smoke poured from the composting pile while flames often shot up from the ground.

 

Burke said there was no immediate threat to any structures with the closest being the La Porte County Community Corrections facility several hundred feet away.

 

Firefighting efforts will continue Tuesday, if necessary.

 

“We probably won’t get it totally put out but we’ll get it managed here, hopefully, by the end of the day,” he said.

 

The cause of the fire was not known.

 

Burke said spontaneous combustion is one possibility because of heat naturally generated below the ground from organic materials decaying.

 

The composting pile belongs to the La Porte County Solid Waste District, which allows citizens to dispose of their yard waste there at no cost.

 

Contractors and other businesses are charged a yard waste disposal fee of $7 per cubic yard.

 

LPCSWW Executive Director Clay Turner speculated a lightning strike also could have been the cause because of storms with lighting passing through the area just a few hours before the fire was reported.

 

“We’re not sure,” he said.

 

Turner said compost along with wood chips from grinding up disposed of trees are also available to purchase at $15 per cubic yard while the charge for mulch is $20 per cubic yard.

 

“It costs us to make it so we got to charge a little bit to try and break even,” he said.

 

Turner said it was the second compost pile fire during his 20 years at the helm of the solid waste district.

 

The compost pile is now closed to the public until further notice.

 

“The grass keeps growing. The leaves keep falling. They need a place to take them so we can’t be closed too long,” he said.