University police and the Vestal Fire Department responded to a dumpster fire between Cascade and Hunter Halls in Mountainview College just before 9 p.m. last night. The dumpster, located next to Cascade Hall in Lot Y1 next to the connector road south of Mountainview, had four plastic bags of garbage in it that had caught fire.
Though the cause of the fire is unknown, firefighters said materials burned in the fire could be harmful to residents inside Cascade Hall.
According to Vestal Fire Chief Chuck Paffie, dumpster fires happen “a few times a year.” A firefighter at the scene noted that as a carcinogen, plastic is a dangerous substance when burned.
“It’s not good for anyone to directly breathe this stuff in,” Paffie said.
The fire department had extinguished the fire just after 9 p.m., and though the dumpster continued to smoke for several minutes, there was no damage to the dumpster or the adjacent building.
Fire alarms in Cascade were never pulled.