VIDEO: Discarded Hot Coals May Have Sparked Two Best Way Disposal Fires

By Mike Perleberg Smoke billows from a barn at Best Way Disposal's Greendale facility, located near Interstate 275 and U.S. 50, on Sunday, December 6. Photo provided. Update published at 10:25 a.m.: Greendale’s fire chief says he will be meeting with representatives of Best Way Disposal to prevent fires from becoming any more frequent at the company’s transfer station. It was about 4:10 p.m. Sunday when firefighters from Greendale, Lawrenceburg, and Aurora were dispatched to a trash fire in a large storage barn at Best Way’s site on Reardon Drive. There were no sprinklers or smoke alarms in the barn. Motorists passing by the barn on nearby U.S. 50 could see the smoke pouring from the building. When firefighters arrived, the blaze was raging.Greendale Fire Chief Shannon Craig tells Eagle Country 99.3 that approximately 2,000 cubic yards of trash was on fire. Firefighters had to remove the piles of trash from the barn and extinguish them bit by bit, Craig explains. About 30 firefighters were on the scene until 1:00 a.m. Monday doing just that. There were no injuries. Sunday’s fire happened eight days after another trash fire in the same building. That was on Saturday, November 28. “They think they know where the garbage is coming from that could be starting it,” Craig says. “It’s coming from a business. We’re kind of trying to put the puzzle together, but there is a company that apparently brings hot coals that could potentially be the cause of both of those fires.” There was no structural damage done to the trash storage barn on November 28, so the company continued to use it. This weekend’s fire, however, was much larger. “There was a lot more fire load. A lot more was burning. All the electric wiring inside was destroyed. It melted everything inside,” Craig says. Craig plans to meet with Best Way Disposal’s management Monday to see what can be done to prevent yet another fire reoccurrence. He is reviewing the fire code to see if there is a limit on the amount of garbage that can be kept there. Sprinklers and alarms might also have to be added to the barn or any future facility. “We’re going to see what we can come up with,” Craig said. Best Way Disposal officials told the fire chief that trash from Greendale and Lawrenceburg is dumped at the transfer station. The trash is then taken by Best Way Disposal trucks to landfills in Greensburg, Indiana or Walton, Kentucky. About a dozen semi truck loads of trash are taken from the Greendale facility daily.   Original story published at 7:48 a.m.: (Greendale, Ind.) - For the second time in just over a week, a fire broke out at a waste disposal company in Greendale. Something caught fire in a storage building at Best Way Disposal on Reardon Drive at around 4:00 p.m. Sunday. Heavy smoke coming from the building hazed the area of the U.S. 50 and I-275 until after 10:00 p.m. Firefighters from Greendale, Lawrenceburg, and other departments were on the scene until after 1:00 a.m. Monday. It is unclear if there were any injuries. The Greendale Fire Department could release more information later today. A fire happened in the same barn at Best Way Disposal’s Greendale facility on Saturday, November 28.