HAY RIVER - A fire broke out at the Hay River dump on March 14 - the second blaze at the landfill in over nine months.

The fire was deemed to be basically out by the middle of last week.

Capt. Vince McKay, the acting chief with the Hay River Volunteer Fire Department, said the fire was under control within 12 hours.

However, it continued to burn and smolder for a couple of days.

Mayor Kelly Schofield said the fire was caused when the contractor that operates the landfill burned some building material - pallets and old wood - and the fire got away.

The landfill, which is located about five kilometres from downtown Hay River, has a burn area just outside the main trash piles.

"The prevailing winds took the fire and put it into the main construction pile," Schofield said, noting the fire then jumped into the household garbage section of the dump.

Schofield said he is "absolutely" concerned about the fire, noting the town will look into the matter.

"I don't want to see this happening again," he said.

McKay said the fire department will recommend to council that no burning be permitted at all in the dump.

Schofield praised the town's fire department for responding in "full force" to the blaze.

"They worked all day and all night," he said.

McKay said up to 15 firefighters initially responded to the blaze. Afterward, they worked in teams of six to 10 for five to 10 hours at a time.

On the evening of March 16, two firefighters took turns going to the dump and scanning it with a thermal imaging camera to check for hotspots.

McKay said the fire department requested assistance through the NWT Fire Marshal's Office and four firefighters were sent from Yellowknife under a mutual aid agreement.

It was the first time he is aware of that Hay River requested such help.

McKay explained he was concerned the town's volunteer firefighters were becoming exhausted by the dump fire and might be unable to respond to another incident in the community.

"I was at the point where I could no longer send them out there (to the dump) to burn them out," he said.

The Yellowknife firefighters arrived on the morning of March 16 and returned home the following day.

Schofield said contractors with four excavators and tanker trucks were also called in to help, and town employees also joined in the effort by helping in any way they could.

"It was a big endeavour to battle this blaze," he said.

No cost to the town has yet been determined, but Schofield said it will be "significant."

The mayor said there were no reports of anyone getting sick from the smoke floating over town, adding no hazardous materials burned.

Unlike the fire nine months ago, Highway 5 was not closed due to smoke.

"The smoke was blowing the opposite way of the road," Schofield said.

Last year's fire, which broke out on May 31 and burned until the next morning, is suspected to have been caused by spontaneous combustion.

The fire may have originated in a bag of leaves. As they decompose, heat builds up and sometimes ignites them. Firefighters battling last year's fire were assisted by water bombers and a helicopter.