County Trash Truck Fire Under Investigation

Paia Fire Station, file photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

A fire in a county trash truck on Tuesday is under investigation.

The incident was reported at around 2:45 p.m. on Umi Place off of Haiku Road.

Responding firefighters with Engine 2 from Paia arrived on scene to find the fire deeply seated in the compactor section of the truck.

After trying unsuccessfully to extinguish the blaze from the top hatch, the trash was slowly dumped and the fire was extinguished from below.

The blaze was extinguished by 3:24 p.m. and crews from the county’s Public Works department were called in to clean up the roadway.

The cause of the fire is undetermined and under investigation.

The 2008 Peterbilt Nellis trash truck suffered only minor cosmetic damage to its paint.

County supervisors from the Makawao Baseyard said there was no monetary dollar loss to the vehicle.