Whitehorse landfill fire costing $100K a day, city officials say
Cost could go up to $2 million, to stomp it out
City officials say Whitehorse has already spent almost $400,000 fighting a fire that began last week at the landfill — and the final bill could reach $2 million.
"The cost estimations are just that — a cost estimation," Peter O'Blenes, the city's director of infrastructure and operations, told city councillors on Monday evening.
"Basically, we are estimating approximately a $100,000 a day, with the crews that we've had, basically around the clock, for the last number of days to fight this fire."
The construction demolition waste fire started last Wednesday just after 10 p.m., but it's not yet clear what caused it.
City fire crews said Monday the fire had been contained but was still burning beneath the ground. O'Blenes said they have put a layer of soil over the area to try and suffocate the fire.
City officials asked the mayor and councillors on Monday to amend the city's 2018 capital budget to the tune of $2 million, to cover the possible cost of putting out the landfill fire.
That motion passed on Tuesday afternoon.
'A scary number'
O'Blenes says some of that money could be used to dig out the smouldering waste beneath the surface, and extinguish it.
"That would be a lot of earth-moving, and a lot of construction and demolition waste-moving, to try and extinguish it in that fashion… let's hope we don't have to go there," he said.
Footage shared with <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCNorth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBCNorth</a> by Boštjan Škrlj: The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Whitehorse?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Whitehorse</a> landfill fire in the early hours of June 21. The fire is now considered contained and is buried under a metre of earth. <a href="https://t.co/lAHvhMVQCY">pic.twitter.com/lAHvhMVQCY</a>
—@YukonPhilippeCouncillor Jocelyn Curteanu asked how the city will will afford the cost of fighting the fire.
"Having to spend $2 million on something we didn't expect is kind of a scary number," she said.
"I'm sure the citizens would like to know where this money is coming from, and if it's going to have any anticipated impact on their future taxes."
City manager Linda Rapp said it's too soon to say.
"At this point, we are not looking at it having an impact — but it's early days," Rapp said.
Working around the clock
Nine tankers have been working in rotation 24 hours a day, dousing the zone with water. Professional and volunteer firefighters as well as other government workers and private contractors have been working around the clock, in shifts of 25 people at a time.
O'Blenes says one of the big costs is in getting water to the site. Tankers have been driving to hydrants at the Kopper King, or in Porter Creek, to fill up.
O'Blenes says the city will look at the cost of installing a water hydrant at the landfill, sometime in the future.
He also said on Monday there would be spotters on the site for the next 48 hours to make sure the fire doesn't spread again.