Wednesday morning, the City of Lamar’s commercial refuse collection truck operator was early in his weekly Wednesday route when he realized that the contents of the truck were on fire. He quickly called the Lamar Fire Department and safely dumped the load in a vacant lot on West Hickory Street where LFD was able to promptly extinguished the load. There was no risk to residents or neighboring businesses, and no damage to the truck. The cause of the fire appears to have been reignited coals from ashes deposited in a city trash receptacle. 

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The City reminds residents and commercial users that coals from fireplace/pit ashes can reignite after days or weeks if not fully wetted down into a paste. Placing them into City trash receptacles puts residents, City employees, and City vehicles in jeopardy. New trash trucks cost nearly $400,000.

Commercial users and residents can be summonsed to Lamar Municipal Court under Municipal Code Sec. 14-2 for placing hot ashes in City trash receptacles. 

The City of Lamar also warns residents and commercial users to never dispose of lithium batteries in City receptacles. These batteries can explode in a truck or at the landfill and cause significant damage/fires as well as possible injury to residents and City employees. 

For more information, visit https://ci.lamar.co.us/sanitation or call City of Lamar Public Works at 719-336-2002.