Backyard fires can be dangerous for your trash

Cassie McClure
·2 min read
Are you considering throwing your ashes or coals from your fire pit in the trash? Make sure they are soaked and completely out before you toss them in the trash bin.
Are you considering throwing your ashes or coals from your fire pit in the trash? Make sure they are soaked and completely out before you toss them in the trash bin.

The drop in temperatures is the perfect time to have a hot drink next to the fire pit. But if you want to toss the coals from the previous night into your trash, make sure the coals are completely out with a nice shower of water, or else your trash bin could suffer. In worst-case scenarios, it could burn up a garbage truck or spark a home fire.

“We do charge customers if their trash bin catches on fire, but it’s also a huge concern for our drivers that there might be something combustible in the trash they are picking up,” said Las Cruces Utilities Interim Deputy Director Rosa Montoya.

Hot coals can ignite and burn the heavy-duty plastic trash bins to the ground. If the cart is next to a house, it could result in a house fire.

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“We see it every year. Customers burn up their trash bins by disposing hot coals from barbecues in the summer or hot ashes from their fireplace or outdoor firepits in the winter,” said Montoya.

The “no hot ashes or hot coals” rule extends to 6-cubic-yard metal dumpsters. When a fire starts in a metal dumpster, the rubberized lid can catch fire and melt, and the paint on the dumpster bubbles up from the heat. Then the dumpster has to be sandblasted, repainted, and the lid replaced.

Other potentially dangerous items that should not be thrown into a residential or commercial trash bin: Dead animals, vehicle parts including car batteries; paint, paint thinners, oil, gas, or other hazardous waste; fluorescent light bulbs or fluorescent light fixtures with ballasts; anything known to be toxic, flammable, corrosive, or an irritant; and appliances.

Please always bag your trash, but never bag recyclables. Hot coals or ashes from a fireplace or outdoor fire pit should be soaked with water before being put into a bag and disposing of it in any residential trash container or dumpster.

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If you have flammables — such as a can of gasoline — the proper and safe disposal is to take it to the South Central Solid Waste Recycling Yard (2855 W. Amador) and pour the liquid into the 55-gallon drum in the Household Hazardous Waste area. There is no cost to the resident.

LCU Customer Central can be reached at 575-541-2111 from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. LCU provides clean, safe, and reliable services to Las Cruces residents and businesses. Learn more at: las-cruces.org/180/Utilities For emergencies, call Dispatch at 575-526-0500.

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This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Backyard fires can be dangerous for your trash