Tyrnävä fire leaves 4.2 million kilos of seed potatoes for disposal

About 4.2 million kilos of seed potatoes destroyed in a warehouse fire in Tyrnävä are unlikely to be usable and may be buried at a landfill, Yle reports. The fire’s cause is under investigation.

The potatoes were stored in buildings destroyed by the blaze, which began overnight between Thursday and Friday last week. Firefighting is still under way, and investigators have started examining the cause.

Kiertokaari, which handles waste for municipalities in the Oulu region, plans to treat the potatoes as fire waste and probably bury them at its waste centre in Rusko, Oulu. It is also looking into whether they could go to bio-waste processing, but says this is unlikely.

Chief executive Sami Hirvonen said the potatoes may have been contaminated during firefighting, including by extinguishing chemicals and other fire debris. The quantity is also too large for the centre’s current bio-waste processing equipment.

Moving the potatoes from the fire site to the waste centre is due to begin once fire investigators give permission. Police have already approved the transfer, police communications chief Tero Väyrynen said. He hopes investigators will have information about the cause of the fire this week.

Rescue service duty fire chief Mikko Kivelä estimates the load would fill more than 100 full-length truck-and-trailer combinations. The transfer will be slow because the waste centre cannot accept burning waste. Smoke has decreased, but Leppiojantie remains closed to traffic. Clearing and extinguishing work at the fire site is expected to continue for several more days.