GOSHEN, Ore. (AP) — The smell of burning garbage filled the air across parts of the Eugene-Springfield area over the weekend while crews worked to put out a stubborn landfill fire.
Plumes of black and white smoke billowed up and were visible for miles Sunday around the Short Mountain Landfill, where six fire departments and state Department of Forestry helicopter battled the blaze just east of Interstate 5.
Officials told The Register-Guard the cause was unknown. It started in the section of Lane County’s only municipal solid waste dump where new trash is brought.
The blaze spread to the grassland to the east of the active landfill, also burning the black tarp that the county uses to permanently cap the trash. It was contained about 8:30 p.m. Sunday after burning more than 2 acres.
