Hanover Park house fire started in compost bin
By Erin Hegarty
ehegarty@dailyherald.com
After a fire that began in a compost bin left a single-family home uninhabitable Thursday afternoon, Hanover Park Fire Chief Craig Haigh Friday reminded people to keep combustibles away from compost materials, and compost bins away from structures.
Residents of the home on DuPont Drive had put ashes from a backyard fire pit they thought had cooled into the compost bin. The ashes apparently ignited materials in the bin on the side of the home, and flames spread up the side of the home and into the attic, fire officials said.
“The attic was engulfed on arrival,” Haigh said.
It took firefighters 45 minutes to get the fire, which caused $70,000 in structural damage and $40,000 in content damage, under control.
Haigh said fires involving ash and compost bins aren't incredibly uncommon, and the heat in a compost bin can also occasionally cause spontaneous combustion without the help of a spark or hot ash.
“It makes sense to try and keep stuff like this away from the structure of the house,” Haigh said.