MFD Crews Battle Landfill Fire with Assistance from Area Agencies

The Madison Fire Department was notified of what was first believed to be a “small brush fire” on Nelson Road after a Sun Prairie ambulance noticed it while passing by. The Sun Prairie medics reported seeing a cloud of smoke off to the southeast that looked like it was coming from the Prairie Landfill. They circled back on a side road and confirmed there were flames on the side of the hill inside the property.

Engine 11 responded and met up with the Sun Prairie medics. There they found a large plume of smoke and active fire within the landfill. Engine 11 gained entry to the property, located at 2002 Nelson Road, and additional fire Madison Fire companies were asked to respond to the scene to assist. Engine 8 was assigned to monitor the north side of the property as Engine 11 came in from the other side of the block. Eventually Engine 5 was added to the call to provide additional personnel as on-scene crews would need to cycle out in regular intervals during this extended incident.

Engine 11 arrived to the fire’s location via access road. Firefighters estimate that approximately 3000 square feet of area were on fire. The fire was not only traversing across the landscape but also deep into pockets of debris. One person familiar with the property advised firefighters some areas could be 25-30 feet deep. Firefighters continued with fire attack for more than three hours, using multiple attack lines on the fire.

Sun Prairie Fire and McFarland Fire each provided a tender to assist MFD with water supply. Private operators used heavy equipment to help excavate the area and move debris to assist with fire suppression. Madison Police provided a thermal drone to help monitor progress of the firefighting operations. The work continued until the thermal drone indicated heat signatures from the debris showed temperatures had dropped below the temperature of the heavy equipment being.

It is estimated that about 16,000 gallons of water were used to put out the fire.  The final MFD units cleared from the call at 12:28 AM. No injuries were reported. It’s unknown what exactly caused the fire.

MFD thanks the Sun Prairie Fire Department, McFarland Fire Department, and Madison Police Department for their assistance on this call.