Oneida County Transfer Station suffers fire

An early morning fire prompted the temporary closure of the Oneida County Solid Waste Transfer Station on County Highway K Tuesday.

“The fire is out and damage assessment will begin,” solid waste director Lisa Jolin told the River News via email late Tuesday morning.

Jolin stressed that that efforts were being made to reopen as soon as possible.

The closure was initially announced on Facebook at approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday.

It’s unclear what started the fire.

“There is no way to determine exactly what caused the fire,” Jolin said. “The assumption is that something someone put in the garbage they disposed of yesterday combusted and started a fire. Lithium-ion batteries are another common source of landfill and/or transfer station fires.”

The facility was scheduled to reopen at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning with limited services available.

“No regular trash will be accepted,” county officials said in a Facebook post. “Public recycling will be open and other select items will be accepted for disposal such as, tires, electronics, appliances, clean demo material, and metal.  If you have any question about your items, please call 715-282-4944 before driving to the facility.”