Landfill fire near Birmingham still smoldering more than 24 hours later, state says

A fire that started at one of the largest landfills in the state was still smoldering on Thursday, state officials said.

“ADEM is in close communication with the company as they’re working to extinguish the fire,” said Lynn Battle, a spokesperson from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. “The fire is under control but there are some areas that are still smoldering.”

A fire broke out at Big Sky Environmental, a large landfill northwest of Birmingham, early Wednesday morning. The smoke could be seen from miles away, according to news reports at the time.

However, Rileigh Bragg, an employee with Big Sky in Adamsville, told AL.com on Thursday that she believed the fire was completely extinguished.

On Wednesday, the nearby city of Graysville warned residents about poor air quality from the smoke in a Facebook post. Residents were told to keep windows and doors closed and limit time outdoors.

Battle said her department at ADEM had not received any complaints about smoke from the fire.

Battle told AL.com that the fire was still smoldering as of Thursday. Bragg said she thought the fire had been completely put out Wednesday but was not completely sure as she works in the landfill office.

ADEM had received very few details about the fire, such as how it started or how many acres burned, Battle said. Big Sky will have to produce a report on the fire for the department once it’s completely extinguished.

Big Sky Environmental is one of the largest landfills in the state. It is permitted to accept up to 25,000 tons of waste per day. It is notorious for accepting “poop trains,” or shipments of sewage waste, from New York and New Jersey.

In late 2022, a landfill in Moody caught fire and burned for months. It was finally extinguished in 2023 after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stepped in to extinguish the fire.