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February 10, 2012

Our View: Mountains of mulch need close monitoring

On the one hand it's an encouraging sign of spring's approach when landscapers start stockpiling mulch to spread around homes and office buildings when the threat of snow has vanished. But such piles become problematic when they catch on fire as happened on Farm Avenue in Peabody Monday.

City officials are rightly concerned about the hazards posed by these large piles of processed wood that under the right conditions can catch fire spontaneously. This particular location, owned by Maine-based J.D. Raymond Transport, has now been the scene of two fires in 21/2 years, each of which caused problems for motorists on the nearby highways.

This week city officials ordered the company to cease adding to the mulch piles on its property until measures had been taken to prevent a recurrence of the fires. That's a reasonable stance given the dangers the resulting flames, fumes and smoke can pose to firefighters and the public.

The state fire marshal's office says it is working on new regulations governing mulch storage. The J.D. Raymond site might be a good place to start implementing these new policies.

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