Chester landfill to reopen Saturday after Friday fire
'At initial stages, it was quite heavy, but they got it knocked down pretty quick'
Firefighters from six departments on Nova Scotia's South Shore spent part of Friday battling a blaze at Chester's municipal waste facility.
Crews and trucks from as far away as Windsor and Lunenburg were called to the Kaizer Meadow landfill near Upper Vaughan just after 7 a.m.
Firefighters used respirators in the heavy smoke when they arrived.
The fire was burning on the open face of landfill at the time.
"At initial stages, it was quite heavy, but they got it knocked down pretty quick," said Bruce Blackwood, fire services manager for Chester.
He said crews put out the fire with water and foam sprayed from ladder trucks.
"There's no injuries today at all, so from that perspective it's very, very good," said Blackwood.
He said landfill fires are difficult to fight because there are often flames burning underground.
There was also a fire at the Kaizer Meadow landfill last July and it took longer to extinguish.
Blackwood said this fire was put out quicker because fire crews got to it before it spread.
The landfill was closed Friday, but Blackwood said it will be able to receive waste again on Saturday.