Park City landfill catches fire. Here’s what could have caused it

Firefighters have contained but continued Thursday to fight a fire that started the night before at a landfill in Park City.

The fire is still smoldering at Evergreen Recycle, 302 West 53rd Street North, but contained to a roughly 100 foot by 100 foot area, Sedgwick County spokesperson Stephanie Birmingham said. The rain overnight also helped with fighting the fire.

Lightning is the suspected cause of the fire.

The Wichita Fire Department worked alongside Sedgwick County Fire Department 1 overnight and about 20 from SCFD1 remained on scene just before noon. Landfill employees are helping by using equipment to pull the burn pile apart while firefighters extinguish it.

It could take up to 24 hours, Birmingham said.

The fire was reported around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday by a caller who reported “hearing a large clap of thunder and seeing lightning,” Birmingham said.

“A few minutes later, the caller spotted a fire burning on Evergreen Recycle property,” she said. “(Sedgwick County Fire Department 1) is checking surveillance video in the area and running a lightning strike report to verify lightning as the cause of the fire.”

Evergreen Recycle had a large fire there in June and another in October 2022, which caused at least $1 million in damage.

“SCFD1 reports that Evergreen Recycle has made significant progress in improving emergency access to its property, since a massive fire in June 2024 burned for several days and required aerial water drops to extinguish it,” she said. “Currently, the piles of pallets, tree and construction waste at Evergreen Recycle are smaller and farther apart, making it harder for flames to spread and giving fire crews more room to maneuver their apparatus.”

Firefighters are also still monitoring the fire that started Tuesday night at Construction, Demolition & Recycle landfill in northwest Wichita, she said.