Moultonborough Transfer Station to host Oct. 7 mock fire drill

MOULTONBOROUGH — Residents need not panic on Wednesday, Oct. 7, when the town dump suddenly becomes a hubbub of emergency activity. The town, in coordination with several business and state agencies, will host a mock fire drill at the Moultonborough Transfer Station, beginning at 9 a.m.

The goal of the drill is to “bring together multiple agencies and organizations to strengthen coordination and emergency response procedures related to fires at New Hampshire solid waste facilities, with a particular focus on fires that can result from the improper disposal of batteries, including rechargeable lithium-ion batteries,” according to a press release shared by Town Administrator Angela Bovill.

There’s no need for alarm, and the event is closed to the public.

“The public should not be alarmed by the heavy presence of emergency and fire personnel at the transfer station that day; this is a training exercise only,” Bovill said.

According to the agenda for the mock fire drill, “both NH 911 and Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid dispatch are aware of the drill and will be expecting calls.”

The planned exercise will include three simulated emergency incidents in different areas of the transfer station. The goal is that emergency response procedures, communication, and coordination of Moultonborough transfer station employees will be tested — along with roughly 25 other transfer station operators throughout the state who can always benefit from the training and professional development.

Those 25 or so “extras” will play an important part.

“There are about 25 different town operators that will be ‘residents.’ We will be actors for the day,” said Tara Mae Albert, solid waste operator training and certification coordinator with the waste management division of New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services. Her department assisted in assembling the training material for the mock fire drill. “Moultonborough staff will be moving us through the facility.

"When it’s done, there will be a safety debrief.

This is good "hands and boots on the ground training,” she said.

The mock fire drill is timely for several reasons.

RSA 149-M:27 became New Hampshire law on July 1, 2025, prohibiting the disposal of specific items in solid waste landfills and waste-to-energy incinerators across the state, namely lithium-ion batteries. This is particularly important as battery technology continues to evolve and become more sophisticated. It was signed into law by then-Gov. Chris Sununu.

“On July 1, 2025, the law went into place that banned disposal of lithium-ion batteries. The main reason for that is because they are prone to thermal runaway and fires. They can be very unstable,” Albert said. “When put through a compactor or crushed, they will definitely react. You cannot put that fire out with water.”

Thermal runaway is essentially an uncontrollable chain reaction from an increase in temperature, which causes more heat to be generated. This usually results in a fire or explosion.

Once before, Moultonborough’s transfer station had a fire as the result of an improperly disposed battery.

According to Albert, Ken Filpula, transfer station supervisor, said he "would love to work with the emergency management in our town and state to figure out how to evacuate the facility when its doors are open, in case of a fire or some other incident or event happening at the facility.”

In addition to DES staff, representatives from the NH Fire Marshal’s Office, Primex, the town insurance department, and NH Recycles helped build the curriculum for Oct. 7. The idea is to put the transfer station staff to the test.

Facilitating the event will be Jerry Sjorgen with the Recycled Materials Association, and Derek Martel with Primex. Also assisting will be Tony Booth of the state Fire Marshal’s Office.

The transfer station "staff are the ones really being tested; it’s so they can improve how they respond to a fire,” said Booth, who works with the bureau of outreach and education with the Fire Marshal’s Office. “The fire department will respond as though it’s a real emergency.”

Onsite staff participating in the drill have no clue what to expect, other than three real simulations will occur at different locations on Wednesday morning.

“They’re going to go through all the same steps as they would in a real call,” Booth said.

In addition to the safety debrief following the mock fire drill, a few battery burn demonstrations will be given. The idea is to show firsthand how a battery burns, so responders know how to safely react.

“Tony and his team will be sending a few batteries into thermal runaway. We’ll be able to see what actually happens,” Albert said. “When you’re right there watching it you think, ‘Holy cow, what do I do? How do I stop this?’”

The concept of a transfer station — a small facility where local garbage trucks unload waste so it can be consolidated and compacted before transfer to a larger facility — is unique to New Hampshire.

In the rural Granite State, municipal trash pick-up often isn’t provided to residents like in urban areas. Instead, residents themselves visit a certified transfer station to dispose of their waste and recycling. The visits are a Saturday morning ritual for many, especially to check out the ever-popular “swap shops.”

According to the NH DES website, “New Hampshire has over 200 operating collection, storage and transfer facilities, most of which are municipally owned and operated. With some exceptions, these facilities are required to be permitted by NHDES, and changes to permitted facilities must be approved by NHDES.”

Within each transfer station, operators are trained, retrained, and offered professional development regularly to ensure safety.

“There’s about 1,700 operators in the state. Every year, the operator, to be certified, they go through basic training, a full day, and take an exam,” Albert said. “It’s not rocket science, but it’s very important stuff to know for environmental regulations and safety.”

So, how should residents dispose of lithium-ion batteries, vapes or other electronic devices?

First, remember: If it’s rechargeable, it’s recyclable. Any device with a battery should never be put in the regular trash bin.

Start with transfer station operators and ask about best practices for disposal. If it’s complicated, and the staff are unable to assist, refer to NH DES for handy resources on participating businesses and organizations that collect this type of recycling.

Because of the nicotine, vapes are a whole different ballgame.

“Reusable vapes, that’s going to be a problem,” Booth said, referring to how many users simply drop them in the trash can.

Disposal vapes should, in theory, be treated as hazardous waste, and dropped off at a special collection event, according to NH DES.

For resources on proper and safe battery disposal, along with vapes, visit des.nh.gov. 

Symbiotically, the theme to this year’s National Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 5-9, is “Charge Into Fire Safety. Safe Charging is a Superpower.”

The theme “focuses on the everyday charging habits that can help reduce the risk of lithium-ion battery fires and keep homes and communities safer.”

Leaders in Moultonborough and the state reinforce the idea there’s no cause for alarm on Wednesday.

“They shouldn't hear anything other than maybe a fire truck responding,” Booth said.

For more information, visit moultonboroughnh.gov. 

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Katlyn Proctor can be reached at katlyn@laconiadailysun.com or by calling 603-524-0150.