Marble – An after-hours fire of unknown origin destroyed a 40-by-100-foot workshop at the Cherokee County Solid Waste Disposal landfill site on Jan. 14.
No one was injured in the blaze, which started around 5:30 p.m., two hours after the facility closed.
Valleytown Fire & Rescue was dispatched to the landfill for the commercial structure fire. Units from Peachtree Fire & Rescue and Murphy Fire & Rescue responded under an automatic mutual aid agreement along with Cherokee County Emergency Medical Services, Valleytown Chief Justin Hyde said.
The first unit that arrived reported the large workshop was already fully ablaze. Units were advised that the workshop contained tools, spare tires and fuel.
“All fire apparatus worked together to control and extinguish the fire,” Hyde said.
The origin and cause of the fire are being investigated by Valleytown Fire & Rescue and the Cherokee County Fire Marshal’s Office.
Witnesses reported hearing multiple explosions at the fire. Robert Ward, director of solid waste for Cherokee County, said the explosions could have been caused by three small gas cans stored inside the 4,000-square-foot workshop. The facility had three bays and contained maintenance equipment used by the mechanic.
Ward added that the workshop had two bays and contained a variety of equipment used by the facility’s mechanic for maintenance.
There was a work truck and lawn mower inside that were destroyed, along with three 5-gallon gas cans and a pile of tires. A 600-gallon diesel tank and a shed containing lubricants and other petroleum products right beside the workshop somehow survived the blaze.
Most importantly, a pump just a few yards from the workshop used to pump liquid that leaks from the landfill to a holding pond nearby was unaffected and remained in operation.
The liquid, called leachate, is a normal part of landfill operations. It is transmitted via a pipe to the wastewater treatment plant in Andrews, Ward said. Damage to the pump could have led to contaminated water leaking into the Valley River, which flows adjacent to the landfill.
Ward said the fire had no effect on essential operations at the facility, and all contaminated materials were kept on-site and did not reach the Valley River, which flows nearby.
Ward praised the fire first responders. The blaze was reported at 5:48 p.m. By the time he arrived at 6:03 p.m., all three fire departments were already on scene.
Cleaning up follows the investigation, with rebuilding to take place once there is an insurance settlement, Ward said. Cleanup shouldn’t be a problem.
“We even have a landfill to put it in,” he said.