On Thursday May 18, 2017 at 0942hrs, the verbal alarm for a trash truck on fire at Station 50 was transmitted by 502 (Hackney). Smithfield crews had the truck pull into the empty lot next to the firehouse, dump the burning trash load and began extinguishment. During the course of suppression operations, the C.N.G. tanks on the top of the truck began to off-gas and ignited, additional crews responded from Carrollton VFD for assistance and South Church St. was closed by command. Operations continued, the trash fire was extinguished, the tanks were cooled by large diameter streams and the fuel burned off, South Church St. was reopened approx. 1 hr later. Once the C.N.G. tanks had off-gassed and ignited, neighboring businesses were also evacuated due to the potential for a catastrophic event. Once incident command deemed the incident stable, all businesses were able to return to normal operations. No injuries were reported and units returned to service at 1230 hrs.

Responding units:
Smithfield 501 (Stallings), 502 (Hackney), 503 (Savage), Engine 50
Carrollton VFD Station 10
Isle of Wight Rescue Squad Station 60
Smithfield PD
Virginia State Police
Isle of Wight Sheriffs Office