Vancouver Landfill Case History
Campbell Mountain Landfill Case History

Delta Shake and Shingle landfill case history.

In early November 1999, a 250,000 cu. yd. cell of the Delta Shake and Shingle Landfill erupted in Flames. The initial extinguishment efforts by the Landfill owner accelerated combustion of the construction waste. Within weeks, smoke from the fire cast a thick haze over the Vancouver skyline, streams in the area were threatened by leachate from the fire fight and workers on adjacent properties were being affected by smoke and odors. On November 27th, the mayor of Delta declared a State of Local Emergency and the British Columbia Fire Commissioner ordered the Delta Fire Department to take control and extinguish the blaze.

Complicating the firefight at the landfill was the presence of a high pressure natural gas main that provides heating fuel for nearly on half million customers in Vancouver, as well as a large volume sewer force main, a water supply main, a high voltage transmission line and a railway line. All of these utilities were located immediately adjacent to the landfill in unstable peats, and were potentially  threatened if a slope failure or excessive settlement were to occur during extinguishment efforts.

The extinguishment strategy involved closing up the 200 x 200 yd. burn Zone, rapid construction of PVC lined cool down areas on expropriated property, excavation and wetting down of the burning material, and ultimately replacement of the extinguished material back in the landfill.

Geotechnical design and monitoring of the lay down areas on top of and adjacent to the landfill were key aspects of the project as the gas pipeline company had zero tolerance for stress induced displacements.

The fire was fully extinguished over a period of two months at a cost of exceeding $2.4 million. The extinguished material was placed back in the landfill in a fire-proof manner and properties expropriated during the fire fight were restored to their owners at a cost of $1.6 million.

Copyright 2008 LandfillFire Control Inc.

Bulldozers suffocating open flames.

Extinguishing a hot load.

Recirculating Water and Class A foam.