THUNDER BAY — City fire crews were called Monday morning to deal with a fire burning in a waste pile at the Mapleward Road landfill site.
As firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, the gates to the landfill and recycling area were closed.
City officials said they would reassess the situation at the end of the day in hopes of reopening the landfill in some capacity by Tuesday.
Thunder Bay Fire Rescue was alerted to the fire at about 6 a.m.
Crews arriving on multiple units encountered considerable smoke coming from the main public tipping face.
As of mid-morning, a tanker and a pumper were still at the scene.
In a statement just before 11 a.m., the city said the fire is under control.
A fire department spokesperson told TBnewswatch fires in landfills pose a particular safety hazard because the fumes are likely "super toxic."
Jason Sherband, manager of solid waste and recycling services for the City of Thunder Bay, said fires due to spontaneous combustion are not uncommon.
"We do have small things from time to time that we are sometimes able to put out on our own. This one's obviously a little bit bigger," he said.
NOTE: A previous version of this story was updated at 11:25 a.m. to include additional information provided by the City of Thunder Bay
