Crews were on scene for over two hours attempting to extinguish a fire that had ignited in the back of a garbage truck Thursday morning.
Princeton Fire Chief Brent Francis states crews were dispatched to reports of a fire in the back of a Waste Corporation of America garbage truck that was traveling along Highway 139 South just after nine. He adds when crews located the truck, which had pulled over on Silver Star School Road to dump the load, they were able to contain the blaze to the trash.
Chief Francis reports the Caldwell County Road Department assisted the fire department at the scene by bringing a backhoe to help firefighters dig through the trash pile. He stated that crews were able to wet down the trash in order to keep it from reigniting.
Chief Francis notes the fire is believed to have started in some construction debris that had been previously burning before being picked up by WCA. While the fire did not cause mechanical damage to the truck the collection bin suffered major heat damage and paint was melted from both inside and outside of the truck.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
The Princeton Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the Caldwell County Road Department, Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, and WCA.
