The Flin Flon landfill is closed after a fire broke out at the facility Thursday night. Firefighters worked through the night into Friday morning to battle the blaze and limit damage.
The blaze was first reported around 8:30 p.m. Thursday and firefighters rushed to the scene soon after. The fire, as of Friday morning, is under control and has been confined to the landfill site. Emergency services are on the scene and have the entrance to the landfill blocked off. People are asked to avoid the area if possible.
Firefighters from both the Flin Flon Fire Department and Creighton Volunteer Fire Department, assisting as part of the communities' long-standing mutual aid agreement, fought the blaze for much of Thursday night into early Friday morning. An aircraft from the Manitoba Wildfire Service has buzzed by the area to drop flame retardant on the blaze.
Smoke from the blaze was visible from Flin Flon late Thursday night, even through a thick haze of fire smoke that blew into the area from the west - the smoke in the area Thursday and into Friday morning was mostly from a fire burning south of Southend, Saskatchewan, not from the landfill fire itself.
Representatives for the City of Flin Flon said Friday they hoped to have the landfill open to the public again as soon as Saturday and garbage pick-up scheduled for Friday still continued as normal. Despite that announcement, the fire flared up again late Friday, causing the landfill to be closed again Saturday.
No injuries or reports of property loss have been confirmed.
