VANCOUVER LANDFILL DEMOLITION FIRE 

                                                                  by Paul Henderson, P.Eng.
                                                                  City of Vancouver
                                                                                       and
                                                                  Dr. Tony Sperling, P.Eng.
                                                                  Sperling Hansen Associates

Introduction

Small surface fires at municipal solid waste landfills are relatively common due to the presence of potentially flammable materials and ignition sources such as hot vehicle exhausts, improperly disposed cigarette butts and loads that inadvertently contain smoldering materials (Ettala et al. (1996) report 285 surface fires in Finland’s 633 sanitary landfills each year). These fires can generally be quickly suppressed through the use of water, cover material or the removal of the burning material from the active landfill area. Underground fires are a much greater threat because it is often difficult to determine the extent of the fire and suppression using conventional means is often ineffective.

On October 18, 2000, City of Vancouver staff discovered an underground fire in an area of the Vancouver Landfill filled with wood waste demolition material. Although the area obviously affected by the fire was only about 50 m², the total volume of demolition material in the area in question was approximately 300,000 cubic metres. A fire in a private demolition landfill located near the Vancouver Landfill involving approximately 250,000 cubic metres of demolition material in the fall of 1999 cost approximately $4 million to extinguish over a period of four months.

Given the potential impacts of a large underground fire, it was critical to ensure that the Vancouver Landfill fire was brought under control as quickly as possible and that any risk of future fire was minimized.

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