Sierra Vista, Ariz. (KGUN) — Sierra Vista city officials finished clearing a fire at a transfer station on Monday.

Workers moved to a pile of firewood that had burned at the end of June and sprayed it with water in an attempt to put out the fire.

“It’s like a campfire right now,” said Sierra Vista Fire Chief Don Foster.

Smoke continued to fill the air even though the fire brigade had left the scene due to cleanup efforts and displacing burning material.

“There’s nothing we can do to mitigate the smoke because we’re digging a part to cool it down, so we need to expose everything,” Foster said.

Foster said the four-foot-tall pile of firewood ignited spontaneously due to the hot and dry conditions, and then caught fire. Because the stakes were mostly wood, they quickly engulfed in flames before firefighters could stop the spread.

Foster said the wood and compost layers can reach temperatures of 160 degrees, especially in the summer.

The fire department warns home composters to keep compost away from buildings and to rotate materials and wet compost at least once a week to reduce interior temperatures.

“It’s good to turn it around once or twice a week because it can actually remove some heat.[It]gets some air in there and produces…that actually helps the decomposition.” said Mr Foster.

No smoke should be visible from the area as the burning tree is out of sight.

The transfer center will remain closed for the rest of the week, according to the Sierra Vista City Facebook page.

We will reopen on Monday 17th July. There will be new drop-off locations open to the public.

Foster said the fire revealed items such as bicycles and bumpers that had crept into the compost material that people had dropped, so more stringent checks would be made for dropped items.