After nearly 17 hours, 44 units, more than 200 hundred firefighters and a whole lotta water, the Staten Island fire that raged in the former Fresh Kills landfill yesterday has been brought under control. Which is good, since last night fire officials were warning it could burn for days.
The fire started yesterday morning on a large patch of wood compost, including discarded Christmas trees put there by sanitation workers, according to officials. It was first reported at 10:59 a.m. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, but "officials suspect the compost spontaneously combusted deep within a compost pile, and powerful wind gusts fanned the flames." (Side note: any other city kids ever get freaked out the first time they saw steaming piles of compost in the winter when they were young? No, just us?)
No major injuries from the blaze have been reported, though three firefighters have been treated for minor injuries at the Staten Island University Hospital North.
