EXTINGUISHING THE DELTA SHAKE AND SHINGLE LANDFILL FIRE 

Lessons Learned.
In British Columbia the Delta Shake and Shingle Landfill Fire heightened the awareness of risks associated with fires at poorly managed construction waste landfills and the financial burdens placed on society once fires get out of control. Key lessons that were learned from the fire were:

• Uncontrolled deposition and poor waste poses an extreme fire hazard.
• Spontaneous combustion did occur at Delta Shake and Shingle and presents the most likely triggering mechanism for landfill fires at these facilities. 
• Soil berm fire guards around the horseshoe were effective in containing the fire to the horseshoe. Refuse should be placed in cells not exceeding $10,000 to 20,000 m(3) and each cell should be fully encapsulated with 0.6 m of inert soil material, not ground wood waste.
• Excavation of shallow trenches that did not fully penetrate the refuse provided ineffective. Trenches should be excavated only if they can penetrate through the full thickness of refuse to inert material.
• Strict enforcement of regulations is required to ensure poorly managed landfill operations are shut down before large liabilities are accrued.
• Fire insurance should be a mandatory requirement at all construction demolition landfill sites.

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