Illegal dumping causes dangers for firefighters

Firefighters remained on scene several hours after containing a trash and brush fire in Coachella that burned 3 acres of brush and debris at Avenue 52 and Polk Street.

According to Cal Fire they got the call around 2:15 Thursday afternoon that brush was on fire in a field near the intersection.

Dry brush wasn’t the only fuel for the flames. Tons of garbage had been illegally dumped in the lot.

Everything from tires, to an old Jeep, construction supplies and mattresses.

There were even stakes used in grape vineyards. Those contain arsenic and other toxic chemicals, making the plume of black smoke even more noxious.

“In these situations we try to go indirect, we put a line around the fire and have the material burn itself out so we don’t needlessly expose our firefighters,” said Daniel Talbot, public information officer with CAL Fire.

Just a few hundred feet away from the fire was a small neighborhood. Residents have had to deal with the illegal dumping for as long as they have lived there.

“People should stop doing it and the city should clean it up because it’s the environment and at some point it will effect all of the Coachella Valley,” said Rebecca Renteria of Coachella.

Cities across the valley have had problems dealing with illegal dumping. Most of the time the trash is left on private property and cities don’t have a right to go and clean it up.

The city can take legal action to force property owners to clean up, but it can be a lengthy and costly process. It’s hard to do in areas where people aren’t going to the city to complain.

The fire was put out in just a few hours. No structures were threatened and no one was hurt. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

What do you think should be done about the problem of illegal dumping in our valley? Leave a comment below of tell Joe Galli on Facebook or Twitter.