UNDERSTANDING AND CONTROLLING LANDFILL FIRES

Monitoring

Temperature Monitoring (Con't):

The long term thermister monitoring data are presented in Figure 2.  During the fire fight temperatures in several monitoring wells spiked upward as oxygen was introduced during exposure of the ravine side slopes so that shot-crete could be applied to achieve an air tight seal.  Temperatures were initially monitored every two weeks.  Once temperatures showed a steady declining trend, the frequency of monitoring was scaled back to monthly and then quarterly.  Temperatures of the hottest thermister have dropped from 73ºC to 53ºC over a period of 2.5 years.  The temperature data provide conclusive evidence that the fire has been successfully extinguished and that anaerobic conditions have been established.  The results also show using oxygen suppression to extinguish a fire can take several years or more before the smouldering fire is fully extinguished.

FIGURE 2. TEMPERATURE MONITORING RESULTS

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