(Photo courtesy of the Juab County Fire District) Juab County Fire District crews use a dozer to pull apart a smoldering compost pile at the Young Living Lavender Farm in Mona. Fire personnel responded to the farm Sunday morning, and on Monday afternoon said they still had a good amount of work to do. Crews are pulling the compost pile apart and knocking the flames down with water.
After more than a day of burning, fire crews on Monday continued to pull apart a large smoldering pile of composted pinyon juniper that went up in flames Sunday morning in Mona.
The fire was burning on the Young Living Lavender Farm. Casey Reynolds, acting fire warden in Juab County, said the fire district received a call about the fire at 9:15 a.m. Sunday.
Reynolds said farm employees had been trying to handle the blaze on their own for about two hours before calling the fire district.
Fifteen firefighters responded and quickly knocked out the flames, Reynolds said, but that was just the beginning. The juniper burned hot deep into the large compost pile. As crews pulled apart the pile, the flames were resurrected.
The fire was contained to the compost pile and did not damage the farm, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said Monday afternoon that a crew of six firefighters remained, using heavy equipment to pull apart the pile and douse the flames with water.
He anticipated that they will keep an eye on the pile as it burns out.
“The pile is huge, so it’s taking a lot of work to break it down,” he said.