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Cliffside Park firefighters hit an overnight garbage truck fire from all sides -- including from above -- before dawn Thursday.
There were no causes for concern nor any injuries in the mishap, which left a huge pile of smoldering trash in the middle of the intersection at Anderson and Columbia avenues after igniting at 1:10 a.m. June 15.
Firefighters used an aerial ladder while also drenching the flames with hand lines from the street.
A massive cleanup kept borough DPW workers with front loaders busy through the night.
A potential cause wasn't immediately given (see photos below; story continues).
However, firefighters in general say they are seeing increasing (and alarming) numbers of garbage-truck fires caused by lithium-ion batteries.
Blazes involving the batteries can spread rapidly and are difficult to extinguish -- water doesn't do it, and neither do fire extinguishers.
Lithium-ion battery fires have been known to reignite minutes, hours and even days after flames have been doused. Explosions are possible. People have died and been seriously injured.
For those reasons, lithium-ion batteries must be treated as hazardous materials and taken to disposal sites and not dumped with household trash.
Because firefighters don't know what's inside any particular pile, they need it dumped into the street just in case.
Hazmat teams must be called if any of the batteries are found.
Jo Fehl took the photos and contributed to this story.
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