Mulch Fire At Southold Recycling Center Reignites: FD

CUTCHOGUE, NY — Hours after responding to a mulch fire at the Southold Town recycling center, the Cutchogue Fire Department was called back to the scene when the fire reignited Wednesday night, officials said.

According to the CFD, the brush/mulch fire broke out at about 8:18 a.m. Police and the Cutchogue Fire Department responded after employees reported a mulch fire in the northern area of the recycling center; upon arrival, firefighters discovered a small portion of a large compost pile burning, officials said.

Because the fire was located in a remote area of the landfill, mutual aid was requested from the Southold Fire Department, which supplied a tanker truck, officials said.

Once a water supply was established, firefighters utilized the master stream and aerial device from a ladder truck to attack and contain the fire, officials said. Throughout the incident, town workers used a pay loader and excavator to spread apart the pile, so that all of the hot spots could be extinguished, officials said.

Firefighters were at the scene for more than two-and-a-half hours, the CFD said.

Cutchogue Fire Department Chief Mike Boken told Patch that after tackling the fire in the morning, with what firefighters thought was about 90 percent containment, town workers continued to battle the blaze with heavy equipment.

Next, around 9:30 p.m., the fire rekindled and the CFD returned, he said. "We'd thought it was in the same spot but at that point it was further in, deeper and more widespread," he said.

East Marion, Southold, Riverhead and Flanders Fire Departments were called in with tankers, as well as the Mattituck and Greenport Fire Departments, Boken said.

The fire encompassed an area of about 25 to 30 feet, he said. Firefighters needed to move the entire mulch pile to get into the base and fully extinguish the blaze, he said.

The mulch, he added, had been stored in a spot on the north end of the property; the fire likely broke out because the mulch needed aeration and caught fire due to the recent high temperatures.

Firefighters finally extinguished the blaze at about 12:45 a.m., leaving the scene at about 2 a.m. "It was a long night," Boken said.