VIDEO: A GFL Environmental trash truck dumped its contents after they caught on fire in the Murrayville area this past Wednesday.
The New Hanover County Fire Rescue was called at 12:37 p.m. on Feb. 1 and discovered a fire near 1222 Sherman Oaks Drive, according to NHC Deputy Fire Marshal Raymond Griswold.
Griswold says the garbage truck dumped the contents onto the street to avoid damaging the vehicle, and that dumping the contents away from the valued property is the easiest way for fire crews to extinguish the fire.
He says the cause of these sorts of fires is typically accidental, caused by someone dumping smoking materials, fireplace embers or chemicals in the garbage. The fire units didn’t call for a fire investigator. Since the fire didn’t do physical damage to a home or structure, it is being handled by the engine officer or battalion chief.