During 2018, the waste and recycling industry experienced 365 reported fires in both the U.S. and Canada. Based on reasonable assumptions, we can extrapolate that 1,800-plus facility fires have occurred during that time, which based on the number of facilities reported by the Environmental Research & Education Foundation, is more than 40 percent of the industry.
There were also three deaths and 13 injuries reported during that time. Most of these injuries were suffered by the brave fire professionals called in to fight and contain these incidents.
