Trash fire at Teton County Trash Transfer Station likely battery-caused, officials say

JACKSON (WNE) — Trash disposal workers snuffed a small fire Wednesday morning at the Teton County Trash Transfer Station.

A trash truck was unloading a batch of household garbage when it set alight. Workers hosed down the trash pile and smothered the blaze using a fire extinguisher, security footage shows. No one was hurt.

After the fire was out, workers went through rubble and found likely culprits: loose batteries and a battery-powered light-up toddler toy with batteries inside.

“People often forget that they’ve got these batteries in things,” said Cindy Harger, Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling’s waste diversion outreach coordinator. “Make sure you’re looking at what you throw away and take out batteries first — and dispose of the batteries properly.”

Batteries can get crushed in the trash disposal process or connect with one another and create a spark, Harger said. Flammable materials in the trash like paper and cardboard and the spark can lead to a fire.

Fires start fairly often at landfills and trash transfer stations across the country. Lithium ion batteries are particularly volatile but all batteries have the potential to spark blazes.

People can and should drop off all types of batteries at the Teton County Recycling Center during regular business hours, but they must be dropped in bins set aside for batteries, Harger said.

The recycling center does not, however, accept large lithium batteries used in e-bikes or electric vehicles. Those big batteries should be sent back to the manufacturer to ensure safe disposal.

This story was published on Jan. 16, 2026.