The fire started in one of the pits at the facility where rubbish was being dumped following recent collections. 

“Something in there has obviously caught alight in the process,” Leeton Fire and Rescue Captain Graham Parks said. 

Leeton Fire and Rescue and several branches of the shire’s Rural Fire Service attended the fire, with the landfill closed while it was brought under control. 

The operators at the landfill phoned in the fire to emergency services before using their own water truck to help douse the flames while waiting for back up. 

“We emptied our water truck onto it when we got there,” Captain Parks said. 

“Then we left it in the hands of the RFS, who were going to push that part back up onto higher ground so avoid it spreading. 

“It definitely could have been a lot worse. We were lucky it wasn’t windy because if some of those embers had gotten away, it wouldn’t have been good.”

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