Side of a fire truck with the letters MFD
Fire
Chris Carbon, Fire Chief

Dumpster Fire Prompts Evacuation Of Goodwill Industries Offices

  • Location

    1300 block Mendota St.
    Madison, WI 53706

  • Incident Date

    Dispatch: Jun. 2, 2017 - 10:22am
    Arrival: Jun. 2, 2017 - 10:30am

  • Incident Type

    Structure

43.116085, -89.317846

This map displays an approximate location.

Updates

This fire resulted in approximately $750 worth of smoke damage to the interior of the building. The exact cause of this fire is undetermined; however, one theory that Fire Investigators formulated, based on evidence and other information, is the fire could have been caused by rechargeable batteries being compressed in a trash compactor. Multiple damaged rechargeable batteries were recovered from the scene. CONSUMER TIPS: Rechargeable batteries should be properly disposed of for environmental and fire safety reasons. Multiple retailers and other organizations around Madison have drop-off sites where batteries can be recycled. Lithium ion batteries cannot be disposed with other batteries. The City of Madison collects batteries at its Badger Road and Nakoosa Trail (starting June 6) drop-off sites. More info is available at http://www.cityofmadison.com/streets/recycling/batteries.cfm --PIO Cynthia Schuster

Incident Details

Firefighters responded to the Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin corporate offices after witnesses reported fire in a dumpster outside. Because the dumpster was situated against the building, a full structure fire response from the Madison Fire Department was initiated.

Occupants self-evacuated and watched from a safe distance as Engine Company 13 and other units rolled up to the scene. A Pellitteri Waste Management truck was also on site and promptly moved the dumpster and its burning contents away from the building. The contents were dumped onto the parking lot, allowing firefighters to fully extinguish the fire.

Crews checked for extension in the building and on the rooftop, ultimately finding smoke inside but no signs of extension.

Investigators are on scene looking into what may have caused the fire. No damage estimates are available at this time.

Images

Firefighters stand near the discarded contents of dumpster
Dumpster contents from a distance
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