ECCO Landfill Fire Update- Sept 21

The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) continues suppression and containment operations at the ECCO Recycling facility fire in southeast Calgary.

Crews remain focused on identifying and treating areas of elevated heat within the landfill pile. Ground assessments, thermal imaging and aerial observations are being used to locate remaining hotspots and guide suppression efforts.

Additional clean fill material continues to be brought to the site and staged for ongoing operations. Crews are placing and compacting soil over targeted areas of the landfill pile to help smother deep-seated hotspots, reduce the amount of oxygen reaching heated areas and limit smoke production.

To support this work, additional heavy equipment is being brought to the site, including an excavator equipped with a specialized tamping attachment. The equipment will be used to compress soil in selected areas of the pile, helping eliminate pockets and gaps where heat, smoke and air can move. This compaction is expected to improve the effectiveness of suppression efforts and support longer-term containment of remaining hotspots.

While progress is being made, crews continue to monitor isolated areas of concern within the landfill pile that have experienced intermittent flare-ups. Residents may continue to observe periods of smoke, steam or localized fire activity as crews expose, assess and suppress remaining heat sources. These conditions are expected during landfill-fire suppression operations and do not necessarily indicate a deterioration in conditions.

The Calgary Police Service is supporting operations through aerial drone assessments of the site. Information gathered during these flights will assist incident commanders in identifying areas of elevated heat and tracking suppression progress across the landfill pile.

Air quality monitoring continues by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, in and around the incident area.

The ECCO landfill fire remains a complex, long-duration incident. Extinguishing deep-seated hotspots within the landfill pile will require continued suppression, monitoring and soil-placement operations in the days ahead.

Residents can find the latest information, frequently asked questions and previous updates at Calgary.ca/landfillfire.