City staff extinguish yard waste fire at north Lincoln facility

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A slow-burning fire at a north Lincoln waste facility has been extinguished, city officials said Tuesday.

The “small” yard waste fire was reported last week at the North 48th Street Solid Waste Management Facility.

“Our team methodically isolated the burning material by removing the surrounding material that was not affected,” Karla Welding, solid waste management superintendent, said in a press release. “The team then spread out the burning material and applied water only on that affected grass and leaves until it was no longer burning.”

Welding said such fires can happen when heat is generated during the decomposition of leaves and yard waste.

On Tuesday, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department reported that the city’s air quality was rated as good.