CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Another hot spot was found this morning in a mulch pile where there’s been a fire off and on through the weekend in southwest suburban New Lenox.
So far, 815 Mulch It owner Shawn Matthews said about 3,000 cubic yards of mulch — which is enough mulch to fill 3,000 garbage carts on wheels or a thousand full-size pick-up trucks — has had to be trucked into a nearby field and spread out in rows where hot spots continue to be doused with water.
Matthews, whose business is on Spencer Road just south of Laraway Road, said he’s gone to some of the homes in the area where smoke can get bad, including the home of a woman with emphysema, and offered to put those families up in a hotel.
“The lady with the emphysema, she said, ‘We’ll just put up some towels by the bottom of the door there and I’m fine, I’m fine.’ I said, ‘Well, if you need to go, don’t hesitate to go,’” Matthews told WBBM Newsradio.
Matthews said neighbors have been supportive and the New Lenox Fire Department has been “phenomenal” in dealing with the smoldering mulch. “They’ve probably put out, I don’t know, I’ve heard one estimate of 30,000 gallons of water already,” he said.
815 Mulch It has its own hose system to put out mulch fires but it relies on water from a pond which is now frozen, a reason why Matthews had to turn to the New Lenox Fire Department for help, he explained.
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He said estimates he’s likely lost about $90,000 worth of mulch because he cannot sell smoky-smelling mulch. Matthews said the smoldering wood chips do not create an environmental problem.
He said the fire started by spontaneous combustion on Thursday, adding that mulch fires are something that usually happen in the spring but almost never in the winter.
Matthews said the combination of the weight of the mulch and the pressure of the mulch pile with the moisture level leads to a smoldering at the bottom of the pile. As crews dig through to the bottom, they wind up giving more oxygen to the smoldering mulch, which leads to flames erupting.
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