Trash Truck Ignites In Temecula Neighborhood, Street Blocked For Cleanup

TEMECULA, CA — On trash day in South Temecula, a CR&R trash truck caught fire at the intersection of Brewster Court and San Marco Drive. No one was injured during the blaze, but a pile of burned, soggy garbage removed from the vehicle remains on the asphalt during cleanup.

Cleanup from the incident would take a few hours for firefighters, who were investigating the cause.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Cal Fire/Riverside County firefighters were called to the scene of an actively burning trash truck in the 43300 block of Brewster Court, spokesperson Karina Espinoza told Patch.

"The fire was confined to a commercial trash truck," Espinoza said.

Riverside County Sheriff's Department officers were conducting traffic control, with streets blocked off from Tylman Street to Modena Drive.

They will remain at the scene until about 5 p.m., she said.

The truck driver was not injured, and no other injuries were reported. The cause remained under investigation.

A CR&R spokesperson has told Patch that the blazes are not infrequent, primarily due to customers improperly discarding electronic devices containing lithium-ion batteries.

Items such as cell phones, computers, power tools, kids' toys, drones and thousands of other products now contain lithium-ion batteries, and none of those should be thrown away with the regular garbage.

"Under no circumstances should hazardous waste be placed in any of the residential carts! Hazardous waste includes items such as: aerosol cans, kerosene, pool chemicals, gasoline and pesticides, batteries, electronics, thermometers, and fluorescent bulbs," the City of Temecula advises.

Contact Riverside County Department of Waste Resources at (951) 486-3200 or www.rcwaste.org for the next closest Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event.

CR&R Senior Regional Vice President Alex Braicovich discussed the issues. "It's an industry-wide problem," explained Braicovich. "Trucks that haul waste are installed with equipment that crushes and consolidates rubbish as it's picked up. Waste facilities and recycling plants use similar equipment.

The problem occurs when electronic devices containing lithium-ion batteries are mixed in with the trash, according to Braicovich. The batteries have a "high potential" to explode or catch fire when they are damaged during the crushing process and can start blazes by igniting the surrounding garbage in a truck's bin or at a facility. The batteries can also spark when they get hot or are defective.
"Lithium-ion batteries are in everything," Braicovich continued.

Braicovich did not have figures on how many trucks CR&R has lost to these types of fires, but said "when we lose a truck, it's significant."