A load of garbage caught on fire within a Waste Connections garbage truck’s load last Tuesday morning in Jena. The driver promptly stopped at the nearest empty lot, which was beside Aaron’s, dropped his load and called for assistance. The Jena Fire Department responded immediately and put out the fire. No one was injured. Other responders to the scene were the Town of Jena maintenance crew, the Town of Jena Police, Waste Connections, the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Office and the LaSalle Parish Police Jury. “The only things we can think of that might have caused the fire was spent fireworks we found in the garbage pile. We think they weren’t quite cooled off and put in the container or possibly someone had a BBQ and the charcoals weren’t completely cool before they scooped them into the container,” Richard Galloway, Waste Connections Site Manager in Monroe, said. “Our guys are trained for this type of situation. He did what he was trained to do, stop and dump his load in the nearest empty lot and call for help. In future though to prevent this happening again, if someone can’t put items inside a plastic bag without melting it then it’s too hot to put in the cart.”