SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A chemical reaction sparked two fires over two days at the Valley Transfer Station, prompting firefighters to respond. The facility has reopened, but workers are asking residents to take hazardous materials to the proper disposal site.
Investigators linked the fires to a chemical reaction involving explosives and wiring that residents had thrown away with regular trash.
Quinn Gonder, operations manager at the Spokane Valley Transfer Station, said residents should think about what happens to their trash after they throw it away. He explained how mixed loads can become dangerous.
“If we have combined loads or mixed bags of chemicals, they might be in a great state, not leaking. They might be contained while they get disposed of. But they get thrashed and crushed and introduced to different types of chemicals and moisture. Batteries especially if they get damaged.”
Gonder also warned about pressurized containers.
“Any kind of pressurized container, when a 40,000 pound loader goes over it, it becomes an incendiary device or a bomb essentially,” Gonder said, “anything that’s a chemical or remnants of a chemical still in that container could get disposed of on our floor.”
Gonder said a dangerous mix of chemicals on the tipping floor can cause reactions. When a loader compresses a pressurized container, it can act like a bomb, and that is how easily a fire can start.
“Batteries are one of our main culprits, but we’re seeing a lot of chemical reactions on the floor that are resulting in a fire or a thermal reaction that are ultimately leading to that,” Gonder said.
Gonder urged residents to speak up before they dispose of hazardous items.
“Anyone that has chemicals, batteries, anything that recharges, please ask one of our staff members where that goes,” Gonder said, “we’ll try to get you out as quick as we can, but that little time to investigate that and proper disposal can save us closing, or save someone’s health and safety.”
The station asks residents not to bring light bulbs and batteries to the tipping floor. Those items belong at the household hazardous waste facility instead.
Workers are on site to answer questions and sort potentially dangerous materials. The station can dispose of car batteries, paint and propane tanks. It has a limit of 15 gallons of hazardous materials per trip.
Anyone living in Spokane County can take dangerous materials to the household hazardous waste facility for free, seven days a week.
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