Brookhaven firefighters fought a debris fire at the citylandfill for most of the day Saturday.

“They spent most of the day and part of the night over there,”said Fire Chief Bob Watts.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notified firefighters around9:30 a.m. Saturday that a mulch pile at the city landfill wasburning. The fire was blamed on spontaneous combustion, saidBrookhaven Fire Department Capt. Michael Fairman.

Brookhaven firefighters, assisted by volunteers from the HogChain and Heuck’s Retreat departments, fought the fire until 5 p.m.When the mulch pile reignited, they returned at 9:30 p.m. andstayed until 12:53 a.m. Sunday, Fairman said.

In contrast to a debris fire in Petal that has smoldered fordays, Fairman said the Brookhaven landfill fire is not expected toreignite and is not being monitored today.

“The decision was made to dump the hot mulch in a pond at thedump,” he said.

In Petal, city firefighters were removed this weekend and thesmoldering landfill fire turned over to firefighters hired by theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its subcontractor, AshBritt.Firefighters had been on the scene since Tuesday, The AssociatedPress reported. The cause of that fire has also been attributed tospontaneous combustion.