A pile of garbage the height of a four-storey building yesterday burned for five hours in an accidental blaze at Tynes Bay Incinerator.

The fire — thought to have self-ignited — forced the temporary shutdown of the site to allow a clean-up operation.

Some residents say they have been turned away from Tynes Bay in recent days anyway, with staff telling them large items were not being accepted until the end of April.

They say this situation could have partly caused the roadside dumping of bulky household items highlighted in The Royal Gazette's Let's Fix It photographs last week.

Works and Engineering yesterday failed to respond when asked whether there had been problems at the plant, and whether it was unusual for the mound to reach the height of 50 feet.

Last year's Pembroke Dump fire also happened as a result of self-igniting garbage. Afterwards, then Works Minister Dennis Lister apologised after failing to do anything about the giant heap of waste dubbed Mount Everest by residents.

And at Christmas 2004, a massive fire took place at the incinerator after trash was dealt with too slowly because of a faulty shredding machine.

More than 30 firefighters tackled yesterday's blaze from about 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. Bermuda Fire Service spokeswoman Lt. Wenda Godfrey said crews had to deal with smaller fires as a knock-on effect, but that bringing it under control was a relatively straightforward operation.

"It was quite a large pile," said Lt. Godfrey.

Asked about the cause, she said: "It's still under investigation. I'm tempted to think it was self-ignited. Heat builds up with the humidity."

Works and Engineering yesterday said there was only minor damage to the facility as the fire was detected at a very early stage.

In the morning, the Ministry announced Tynes Bay would not be accepting any waste as a two-day clean-up programme was underway.

During the afternoon, it said the plant would be open again from today. Residential waste collection for the west end takes place today, and for the east end tomorrow. Waste collection will return to normal on Thursday.

Nicola Slade, of Southampton, contacted this newspaper last week to say she had been turned away from Tynes Bay with her king size mattress.

"We went through the great effort to secure our old king size bed on the top of our car and drive it to Tynes Bay from Southampton, almost losing it twice on the way because of the wind, to get there and be told that they aren't accepting large items until the end of April," said Mrs. Slade.

"We called Works and Engineering to see when they could come and pick it up only to find out they can't until the end of April too.

"I said to my husband that it wasn't surprising why people dump their items when there is nowhere to get rid of them. So now we have a king size mattress and box spring leaning up against our home."

Another reader, calling himself Resident With A Garage Full Of Garbage, said: "I went to Tynes Bay a few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, with my car loaded with items for disposal: an old computer monitor, a plastic child's ride-on motorised car, a torn plastic garbage can lid, and a bunch of small plastic outdoor toys.

"When I pulled up, the Tynes Bay watchman looked at my load and yelled: 'No plastic allowed!'

"He did take my monitor away for disposal, but told me nothing else in my car could be disposed of there. I politely asked him where in Bermuda I could take the remaining items for proper disposal. His response was: 'Take them home. There's no place in Bermuda to discard them.'

"If Bermuda wants people to stop leaving trash on the roads, than perhaps a first step should be that the Tynes Bay officials should provide the facilities and information necessary to allow law abiding residents the opportunity to dispose of garbage in a proper manner."

The Royal Gazette asked Works and Engineering for a response to the above comments last Friday, but has not received any feedback.

The Ministry's statement yesterday apologised for any inconvenience to the public, adding: "The Ministry wishes to thank the men and women of Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service and those employees of Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Facility who worked throughout the night to secure and clean up the facility in such a short period of time."

Have you been turned away from Tynes Bay in the days leading up to the fire?

What did staff tell you? E-mail: news@royalgazette.bm.