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With landfills often comprising a chaotic mush of tires, plastics and oxygen-rich organic waste, they are notoriously hard to extinguish once ablaze and “often defy common sense,” according to a 2010 article by Waste Management World magazine.

“No one can tell you how to put out a landfill fire — there isn’t a single solution for all,” it read.

Nevertheless, dump fires are usually extinguished one of two ways. The flames can be suffocated, either by coating the surface of the dump in clay or injecting the burning trash with an inert gas such as carbon dioxide. Or, as was suggested in Iqaluit’s case, the garbage can be “overhauled” by being dug up and doused with water.

Fifteen years ago, the dousing method was used successfully on a fire that broke out at the Delta Shake and Shingle Landfill outside Vancouver.

For two months, heavy machinery trucked the burning refuse to a cool-down area. And then, once it was extinguished, the tonnes of soggy, charred garbage were sealed back in the ground.

Prior to Mr. Sperling’s arrival, municipal, territorial and even federal officials had suggested putting out the fire by accelerating the burn process. As recently as 2002, garbage burning was the primary form of waste management used in Iqaluit.

Smoke and fumes from the fire remain in evidence throughout Iqaluit, but according to a government of Nunavut fact sheet, the long-term risks from exposure to the dump fire are “expected to be quite low.”

On days when smoke blows into the city, however, residents are being advised to stay indoors and keep watch for wheezing, shortness of breath and dizziness.

National Post