Garbage truck load catches fire in Twin Falls

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Firefighters responded to a fire inside the compartment of a garbage truck on Tuesday.

At 12:36 p.m., a caller reported heavy smoke from a PSI Environmental Systems garbage truck in the parking lot of the Full Life Family Church, according to the Twin Falls Fire Department.

The driver and an Idaho State Police trooper attempted to fight the fire before firefighters arrived, using a borrowed extinguisher from the church, according to firefighters.

Firefighters put out the fire after dumping the truck’s contents onto the church parking lot. PSI said the damage left the truck with a broken hydraulic system and will need to be repaired.

Waste management crews began work on transferring the waste out of the parking lot and into a new transport bin.

The fire department and PSI reminded residents to properly dispose of hazardous or flammable materials such as coals, batteries, aerosol cans, antifreeze and oils to avoid future incidents.

“I think the biggest thing is just to make sure we’re throwing away what we need to be thrown away,” said PSI Operations Manager Jace Melugin. “Situations like this can cost a life, cause anything like that if our driver wasn’t aware or wasn’t paying attention. We train for it, but we don’t like when it happens for sure.”

Melugin said that residents should take hazardous or flammable disposables to the Twin Falls Transfer Station. He also said Pacific Recycling may take some disposables.

Firefighters said there were no injuries and that the exact cause of the fire is unknown.

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