Load of burning garbage dumped

Wednesday, July 7, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

A garbage truck driver had to dump his pile of garbage in the parking lot of a gated Henderson apartment complex Tuesday after a fire broke out in the back of the truck.

The Republic Services driver, who did not disclose his name, said he first noticed smoke coming out of the top of his truck as he was making his rounds through Camden Summit apartments on Windmill Parkway Tuesday afternoon.

By the time Henderson firemen arrived at the parking lot, the entire pile of garbage was on fire, said Henderson Fire Capt. Scott Alder, staring with both hands on his waist at the five-yard-long pile of burnt trash.

"Usually this happens when somebody throws something away that was probably a little too hot to be thrown in the garbage," said Alder, who noted that he rarely witnesses garbage on fire. "Especially this time of year, you might suspect that somebody had fireworks that they put in a garbage can."

Though the blazing pile was dumped only feet away from the nearest apartments, Alder said the driver was right to unload his garbage in the lot rather than keeping it on his truck.

"If he left it on the truck, he would have lost a really expensive piece of equipment," Alder said. "There's a lot of fuel and stuff on that truck and that's probably not a good situation."

Crystal Bean, who lives in an apartment a few yards from where the pile was dumped, said she does not believe the driver chose a far enough place from her apartment building.

"It would have been nice of them to at least let us know that this was going on," Bean said.

When asked if the fire department would be helping to clean up the mess, Alder said, "Oh no, not my job." The public services department is responsible for loading the charred trash into another dump truck, he said.