Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Aug 07/98) - Even though Lyle Gully intended to burn only wood when he set the Inuvik dump's wood pile on fire, he ended up burning much more.

It was not that the fire spread. Recent wet weather and a north-blowing wind ensured the fire only burned what it was intended to.

But as flames ravaged the dump's poorly labelled wood pile, other items burned or smouldered too: half a tire still attached to its rim, an old sink and much paper and plastic.

"People don't always read the signs and they just dump their garbage and go," said Gully, who works for Bob's welding which has the contract to maintain the dump.

"We're waiting for new signs from the town (to better identify the different piles.)"

Just then, as a curious black bear sauntered around the big pit for household waste, a man who asked not to be identified started to toss used engine oil into the wood pile blaze.

Gully had just finished saying how oil waste is stored near the appliances.

Instead of burning oil, the usual process is to pour it all into 45 gallon barrels and then store it for people who might want to use in their oil burning furnaces.

At the end of every summer, workers fill in the large household waste pit with gravel. Burning it would cause extended smouldering, and the danger of previously buried waste catching fire.

"It would be a health hazard," Gully said.

Another reason the garbage piles are in disarray is many people, as well as the occasional bear, rip previously bagged garbage to scrounge for useful items.

The metal pile is identifiable by its many car frames and protruding pipe ends. Many people venture in there for reusable car parts.

No one guards the dump so Gully said some mixing of the contents of the different piles is unavoidable.