WHAT are the people of Mayfield throwing in their bins?
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Emergency services have again been called out to a steaming hot pile of rubbish after a garbage truck started smouldering in Robert Street about 11am Wednesday, December 20.
According to NSW Fire and Rescue reports, there was a fire inside the hopper where the rubbish is loaded into the truck. As soon as the driver became aware of the issue emergency services were called and the load was safely dumped onto the street to ensure it did not ignite the truck.
Fire fighters from Carrington and Mayfield attended, extinguishing the hot mound of garbage, before it was scraped up and taken away to the dump.
This is the second time a garbage truck load has caught fire in the Mayfield area this month. On Tuesday, December 12, fire crews were called to Industrial Drive to deal with a similar incident, but on arrival the engines ran out of water and six crews had to be called in to help extinguish the blaze.
"It is more common than people think," a spokesperson for NSW Fire and Rescue said.
"It happens quite a lot across the state."
According to NSW Fire and Rescue many household items can ignite rubbish including the obvious cigarette butts, as well as hot fat from the kitchen and mulch in green waste bins can even ignite if it is piled up too deeply.
Jessica Brown
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
