It could have been a lot worse.

Watford and Warwick firefighters were called to Twin Creeks Landfill Sunday after thick black smoke was seen billowing from the site on Nauvoo Road.

Chief Rick Sitlington says firefighters arrived to find about 300 to 400 square area in the cell where garbage was being dumped in flames with black smoke filling the area.

Sitlington says the flames were about 500 meters off the built roadway, which made it difficult to get to. “The biggest problem was getting to it,” he says. “We started laying down hose …but then we tried to drive the one truck to it. He made so the other went, too.”

Sitlington says it took about three hours to bring the fire under control with the help of Brooke Fire Rescue, which was shuttling water to the site. The chief says the fire had likely been smouldering for sometime before it broke out into full flame. He speculates a cigarette butt may have sparked the garbage fire, but there is no way of knowing for sure.

The chief says the fire – particularly the smoke – caused a lot of concern. “Fortunately, the wind was blowing away from town,” he says. If it had not been, Sitlington says, they would have ordered people in Watford to shelter in place, staying inside with the windows and air conditioners off.

The Ministry of the Environment and Spills action centre were notified.