Пожар на компостной площадке в Лонгвью ликвидирован, но территория закрыта до 8 сентября

Longview compost site fire extinguished; site closed through Sept. 8 LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - A fire at the City of Longview’s compost site has been extinguished, according to the city. Crews continue to monitor the fire at the City of Longview compost site after bringing it under control, the city reported. Crews remained on scene finishing cleanup and assessing the area, the city said. Site closure The compost site will be closed today through Tuesday, Sept. 8, according to the city. The city said it currently plans to reopen the site Wednesday, Sept. 9. How the fire started and spread Reports of smoke in the area came in around 5:50 p.m. Thursday, according to Longview Fire Chief Greg Grimes. Crews arriving on scene found the compost pile maintained by the city was burning and had spread into the brush and trees behind the compost. “With the dry conditions, it ended up running up the trees and topping out what we call topping out or crowning,” Grimes said. “It ran a little ways, but the crews were able to get out in front of it and put a good stop on it.” The Longview Fire Department requested mutual aid from White Oak Fire Department, which responded with a tanker and a brush truck, Grimes said. “We had mutual aid requests to White Oak Fire Department, and they responded with a tanker and a brush truck and were able to help us out on that end,” Grimes said. “We got the fire forward, progression stopped, but then we have a large amount of debris, tree limbs, mulch, and everything that was on fire.” Crews laid 1,000 feet of five-inch supply line from the closest hydrant and set up a truck to use a master stream, according to Grimes. Crews spent the night at the scene, rotating shifts to put water on the fire to keep it cool amid dry conditions. “If the wind picks up, those embers get floating around, it’s going to be a problem,” Grimes said. “So we want to make sure that we were on top of it throughout the night.” Ongoing monitoring Grimes said the compost fire is deep seated and hard to reach. Public works crews assisted overnight with front-end loaders, moving debris to help crews get water into the deep area. “That’s just going to probably continue to smolder,” Grimes said. “Could be up to a week. So we’ll do some constant monitoring on it, either through public works or our fire crews.” Crews have created a bare dirt barrier around the site using excavators to push debris together and prevent the fire from jumping, Grimes said. “I don’t know that we could put enough water on it to soak it good enough,” Grimes said. “So we’re just going to let it do its thing. We’ve got a protective barrier around it.” What residents should know Grimes said residents who see smoke in the area of the compost site and believe it is not consistent with the location of the compost should call it in for investigation. “With the dry conditions, we need to get out in front of these when they’re small, because it doesn’t take long for them to progress and be a real issue,” Grimes said. “Most likely it’ll be a week or more before it actually burns out.” Copyright 2026 KLTV. All rights reserved.