The blaze hit the Betooni tänav landfill site, east of the city center, and reportedly covered around 500 square meters at the time it was reported, shortly after 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The board announced shortly before 3.40 p.m. that the fire was under control. At around 4.30 p.m. the service declared the fire extinguished.

Refuse, including discarded mattresses and beds, was burning intensely, initially with a plume of thick black smoke, which is now reportedly lighter in color and upwind of the residential areas of Lasnamäe.

There have been no reports of injuries at the time of writing.

Responders included fire crews from Jüri, Rae, and Kostivere, all just outside Tallinn, as well as from the Kesklinn, Lasnamäe, and Lilleküla brigades in the capital.

The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) have been managing traffic on site.

The work is taking place in stages, including extinguishing it from the ground up, while a fire crane truck is controlling the blaze from above.

The site's own heavy machinery has also been used in breaking up the burning piles of refuse to enable access to the main hotspots. The heap contains a large amount of combustible material, while extinguishing the fire is expected to take at least another three hours from the time of writing.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!