No one was injured in a mid-afternoon fire August 22 at the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District facility on the Country Club Road in Boothbay. Three fire departments responded to the blaze, which began in the metal pile.

Around 3:50 p.m, employees saw a considerable amount of smoke coming from the pile.  Facility employee William Johnson tried unsuccessfully to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher. Another employee later called 9-1-1 for assistance. Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport fire departments responded to the call.

Boothbay Fire Chief Richard Spofford reported Monday that the blaze was extinguished in a matter of minutes. The firefighters hosed down the fire for 20 minutes. They also used a nearby excavator to move the debris around to extinguish the fire. 

“We contained it to the metal pile,” Spofford said. “I’m not sure what caused the fire. It could’ve been anything. They’re only suppose to be metal in the pile, but sometimes other things get mixed in.”

Employee Anna Giles reported the fire after Johnson had difficulty putting the blaze out with a fire extinguisher.

“It (the fire and smoke) spread pretty quickly,” said Giles, about seeing the smoldering fire with huge plumes of billowing black smoke coming from the metal pile.

Despite the heavy smoke, the waste management facility was relatively unscathed. Spofford said once the fire was out the facility returned to normal operations.