Evening star., 1947-09-24
Biggest D. {. Bonfire
Is Lighted Each Day
On 28-Acre Dump

The largest bonfire ever kindled in
the District is set off every after
noon, except Sunday, at o'clock on
the trash dump at Forty second and
Meade streets NE. and burns flercely
for more than an hour and then
shoulders all night.
While the fire Is burning there
are continual explosions caused
when bottles become heated and ex-
plode. During the war, it sometimes
became even more interesting when
unexploded shells found their way
into the trash heap.
While the 28 acres are known as
the dump and the Kenilworth fill,
it is really controlled open in
cinerator, according to William A.
xanten, superintendent of city
refuse. It was started In 1941 on
what was then d marsh. 1T was ex-
pected that the District could dump
about 100000 cubic yards of trash
in the fill before it would be satu-
rated. So far about 100000 cubic
yards of trash have been dumped
and Mr.. xanten believes the fill can
be used between four and seven
years more. This extension Of the
life of the fill resulted from the final
residue being reduced to per cent
of the .original trash dumped by
burning the trash and then salvag-
ing the metal.
Magnets Collect Metal.
The metal IS collected by huge
metal magnets after the fire has
burned itself out, and about 2,000,-
900 pounds of metal are salvaged
every month from the heap by a
Washington junk dealer, who pays
the District for the privilege. The
metal consists mainly of bed springs
oil cans and parts of automobiles
Since the return of canned beer, Mr.
Xanten says, about 20 per cent of
the metal collected consists Of these
discarded cans.
The collection of the metal by
the magnets began last fall. Before
that, it was collected by hand, long
and tedious job.
The Kenilworth fill handles about
half Of the trash collected in the
District, the other half going to the
Georgetown incinerator at Thirty
first and K streets NV, and the c
street incinerator at First and G
streets Sc.
Mr.. xanten estimates that about
$50 large trash trucks dump thei1
loads every day at the fill. All the
trucks that enter the fill must be
equipped with a cover over the
trash and have a tailgate. If 9
truck shows up at the fill without
these, it is promptly turned back
and told not to return until it has
the required equipment. This is
done to prevent the trash from
dropping or being blown of the
truck while 1t is en- route to the fill
and littering the streets.
Fire Watch Maintained.
The result of this precaution i.
seen also at the fill. 1t is cleaner
than many alleys in the District.
A watch is maintained at the fl
all night, but most of the workers
quit at o'clock in the afternoon
Only the fire crew is kept on unit
10 pm. to see that the bonfire doe.
not get out of hand.
According to Mr.. Xanten, fall i.
the busiest time at the fill with tn,
extra load of dead leaves added tt
the trash. Winter is the time tn,
trash is dirtiest.
According to Mr.. Xanten, there il
not another spot in the Distric
where such a large amount of trash
can be burned. He hopes that, be-
fore the I'LL is completed, the thirt
incinerator, to be built near Noun
Olivet road and Montello avenu,
NE, will be In operation.