Garbage Truck Aflame, Dumps Load, Snarls Traffic in Campbell

Firefighters ordered a large garbage truck to dump its burning load onto Campbell city streets Friday, snarling afternoon commute traffic at one of the busiest intersections of the South Bay.

 “There were flames coming out of the back where all the trash was,” said Jessica Hein, a cashier at the Delta Queen Classic Car Wash, where the truck pulled up on the north side of Hamilton Avenue around 4:15 p.m.

"It was kind of exciting." 

A passerby had flagged down the driver just moments earlier, motioning to the smoke coming out of the back of the truck.

Firefighters arrived on the scene and spent ten minutes spraying water into the truck, then asked the driver to dump the contents into the street to more quickly and thoroughly quell the fire, said Santa Clara County Fire Department Battalion Chief Joe Parker.

Police blocked off  nearly all of westbound Hamilton Avenue and two left turn lanes of northbound Bascom Avenue, which quickly became backed up, since drivers were searching for ways to get to Highway 17 during rush hour.

“It is one of the busiest intersections in the Bay Area at this time of day, yes,” said Battalion Chief Parker said. But it was the only way to make sure the fire was quickly and thorougly put out.

Hein said customers at the car wash all watched with fascination at the firefighting operation—and the soggy, blackened mess deposited on Hamilton Avenue. It all happened so fast, she said.

"I didn’t know what to think— it was so random: A garbage truck? Out in street? On fire?"

The garbage company dispatched a loader and a debris box to clean up the mess, Parker said. Traffic was still blocked off at 6:30 p.m. 

"I don't think it smelled," Hein said. "It was gross-looking, all black and wet." 

By Parker's reckoning, the truck had taken Dumpster loads from some apartment buildings: "I saw half a toilet, a car seat, a mattress," he said. "Big stuff, not household garbage, but there was that, too."

Campbell police said it estimated that streets would reopen by 7 p.m. 

“Great job from the Campbell Police Department and the Firefighters of Campbell,” wrote Yaneth Gutierrez-Vallejo on Campbell Patch’s Facebook Page. “Within 5 minutes I’ll say everything was under control, as well as traffic.”

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