Fire at Raleigh mulch processing site burns for second-straight day

The blaze lit an orange glow into the night sky around 4:30 a.m., creating a light that could be seen for miles. As of 9:30 a.m., there were a few hot spots but the fire department was cleared from the scene as the fire was largely contained.

The fire at Wall Recycling, in the 3000 block of Gresham Lake Road, was first reported at 11:30 p.m. Monday, said Lee Price, chief of the Wake New Hope Fire Department. Wall Recycling staff had things under control until about 3 a.m., when firefighters returned and found several active fires in a pile of unprocessed stumps and logs, he said.

"This one got into the unprocessed material, so it got a little bit bigger than what they can handle," Price said.

By 5 a.m., large plumes of smoke were seen coming from the site. A WRAL News crew in Sky 5 estimated the smoke trail at more than 5 miles long.

"You could see an orange and yellow haze in the background, and I noticed a little bit of smoke. I was about ready to call the fire department, but they were already on the scene," said Jeff Gaston, who lives nearby.

Police closed a section of Gresham Lake Road between Capital Boulevard and Interstate 540. so firefighters could use hydrants across the street from the site to pump water onto the burning pile of wood debris.

Louise Vaughn hit a wall of smoke – and a roadblock – trying to take her daughter to day care Tuesday morning.

"We saw this huge cloud of smoke which looked like fire, and I was hoping against hope it wasn’t going to block our path," Vaughn said.

Police reopened Gresham Lake Road at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, but crews were still working to douse the flames.

Price said the fire is deep down into the pile, likely sparked by spontaneous combustion. Wall Recycling staff used excavators to lift dry debris off the pile so firefighters could spray water into the smoldering layers below.

"They’re digging out like a fire break. Once they get the unburned material away from it, we’ll be able to pull it out and break it down some so we can extinguish what’s deep set into the pile," he said.

The process is painstaking, as each layer removed allows the fire to breathe more.

"They're doing a really good job of working with us and pulling it all out. It's just going to take a little while," Price said.

Mulch fires can burn or smolder for days, and firefighters just want to get it under control so Wall Recycling staff can handle it, he said.

"They’ve got guys that are watching, and we’ve got guys that are watching," he said.

Wall Recycling has 11 locations across the state and specializes in dumpster rental, portable bathroom rental, scrap metal recycling and auto salvage.

Fires at waste facilities in the U.S. and Canada have jumped 26 percent since 2016, according to one industry report.

A big factor is the growing amount of waste, but the reasons for individual fires vary widely.

As Price noted, Tuesday's fire was likely spontaneous combustion from tree stumps and mulch sitting for long periods of time in the heat. Large piles are supposed to be rotated to allow constant cooling, but wood supply and mulch demand can complicate that.

In April, a fire started at the Foss scrap metal recycling facility in Durham. The exact cause wasn't released, but different metals can react with leftover oil in scrapped cars or other substances and ignite.

Industry studies also point to the improper disposal of lithium ion batteries, which are used in cellphones and laptop computers, as a potential fire hazard. Propane tanks and aerosol cans that have been discarded are also known to ignite.