MRF issues warning after Monday morning fire

By Brandi Makuski

Plover firefighters were called to extinguish a fire at the Material Recovery Facility on Monday morning.

Fire Chief Mark Deaver said the 911 call came in at about 9:40 a.m. A standalone waste bin, brought into the MRF by a local waste collection company, had begun smoking, he said.

A fire crew arrived at the facility, 650 Moore Rd., soon after and quickly extinguished the flames, he said. The cause of the fire appeared to be smoking coals from someone’s home barbeque grill. There were no injuries associated with the fire.

“It was burning before they even put it in a transferred station, so there was no property damage,” Deaver said. “But it’s a good reminder for people to make sure they don’t put anything that’s hot into the garbage.”

The Portage Co. Solid Waste Department also posted a similar message on its social media page.

“We can’t reiterate this enough … make sure your coals or ash are completely cooled for 48 hours before placing them into your garbage cart or a dumpster. Thankfully our crew notice the smoke before the dumpster was dumped,” the post reads.

Deaver said firefighters were on the scene for less than an hour.