Va. Firefighters Battle Stubborn Mulch Fire

STANLEY, Jan. 28 - Local firefighters responded Monday morning for the second time to a blaze on the Hunts Run Farm, about five miles west of Stanley.

The Stanley Volunteer Fire Department was first called to 862 Diary Drive at 2:37 p.m. last Thursday, and arrived to find a 50-foot tall mulch and wood shavings pile on fire, according Stanley Fire Chief Terry Pettit. The piles were several-hundredfeet long, he added.

Firefighters were again called to the Hunts Run Farm around 1:30 a.m. Monday, Pettit said, after the same shavings pile reignited.

Pettit said in a news release issued Monday evening that firefighters were able to protect a nearby barn on the property during both fires, but much of the mulch and shavings burned. There is not yet an estimate in damage.

The mulch is stored and recycled on the farm by Shenandoah Waste Services, which operates a recycling center near Alama. Several loaders were brought in to help move the mulch, so the fire could be extinguished.

Pettit added that the local fire department has recently been called to several mulch fires, which "all, like this one, started from spontaneous combustion."

Twenty firefighters and six units from the Stanley Fire Department responded last Thursday to the Hunts Run Farm fire, and remained on the scene until around 6 p.m. The Stanley Rescue Squad and the Page County EMS also responded, but no injuries were reported.

Firefighters remained on the scene Monday morning for about four hours. Pettit said firefighters used about 30, 000 gallons of water to extinguish that fire. No injuries were reported.

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