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The Central Maui Landfill will resume normal hours today after closing Saturday due to a fire in a green waste pile at the Maui EKO Systems composting facility, according to Maui County spokesman Rod Antone.
The fire started Friday afternoon, and it was still burning as of 6 p.m. Sunday evening, Fire Services Chief Ed Taomoto said.
"It's still going, but it's contained to the green waste pile, and it's not going anywhere," Taomoto said.
A Kahului engine and tanker were at the landfill from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Fire crews and Maui EKO employees used heavy equipment to cut a firebreak in the green waste pile and separate the burning and unburned materials. They doused hot spots with water and spread out the hot debris to cool.
Taomoto said that was "all we can do" for now. He said Maui EKO employees planned to monitor the situation and would call fire crews back to the landfill for any flare-ups.
The fire started Friday in a 300-foot-by-300-foot compost pile about 15 feet high. It was deep within the pile, making it difficult to extinguish, Taomoto said. Heavy smoke that made it difficult to see or breathe caused the landfill to close Saturday, according to Antone.
The landfill is normally closed on Sundays. Maui EKO is not a county operation but leases county property within the landfill.