Massive New Lenox mulch fire burning for 3 days

Piles of mulch that caught fire Friday were still smoldering three days later.

“This was a pretty bad one,” Shawn Matthews, the Owner of 815 Mulch It, said of the blaze at his business on Spencer Road near Laraway Road in New Lenox.

The New Lenox Fire District said the fire started about 6 a.m. Friday and since then they “have been on scene helping the company extinguish the fire eight different times for hours each time and used over an estimated 30,000 gallons of water.”

“The fire department has been nothing but fabulous,” Matthews said, adding, “One hundred percent kudos to the New Lenox Fire District.”

Matthews also said residents living near 815 Mulch It have been understanding and helpful.

“One of them even offered to buy us sandwiches,” he said.

The fire was the result of spontaneous combustion, Matthews said.

“Eventually, it will create a little spore, like a volcano, and it will find its way out,” he said.

The company keeps an eye on its mulch piles to put out fires before they get out of hand and also has a fire suppression system, Matthews said, but the system relies on a pond on the property for water and the pond has frozen over.

Matthews said Sunday afternoon that he believes the fire is on its last legs.

“We eliminated the source about a half hour ago,” he said shortly before 1 p.m.

And while smoke was still billowing from the mulch piles, he said there was no risk of hazardous substances getting in the air.

“It’s just wood,” he said, “so there’s no contaminants or anything like that.”

The fire district said there was no risk of the blaze spreading or causing damage to anything other than mulch.

“There is no danger to any structures and the company is doing the best they can to limit the amount of smoke from the situation,” said a post on the fire district’s Facebook page.