Bridgewater crews put out fire at town dumpster

5 years ago

BRIDGEWATER, Maine — The Bridgewater Fire Department extinguished a small fire that started at the town’s transfer station Saturday.

On Saturday morning, Bridgewater fire crews responded to a call about a fire at the municipal dumpster attached to a trash compactor, according to Matthew Powers, the fire department’s public information officer.

Firefighters cut a hole into the top of the dumpster to access the fire’s source and quickly put out the flames, according to Powers.  

The 40 cubic yard dumpster is managed by Pine Tree Waste Services, and a representative of the company who was called to the scene said that a fire in a dumpster attached to a compactor was the first he’d seen in his 20-year career, according to Powers.

No cause of the fire was determined but the town’s fire chief, Troy Bradstreet, wants everyone to be aware that batteries and chemicals should be disposed of in accordance to manufacturer’s recommendations, Powers said.

The dumpster stopped accepting waste on Saturday but is set to reopen for its regular hours this week, Powers said.