LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va.
“Spontaneous combustion can happen when a decomposing, organic material such as mulch generates enough heat to ignite without an outside source,” Chief Fire Marshal Linda Hale said in a statement.
They waited for a master stream from a ladder truck to reduce the majority of the fire then reentered the home and extinguished the remaining hot spots.
A large apartment complex caught fire in Arlington, Massachusetts, in 2015, destroying 36 apartments and six cars and causing $6.7 million in damage, according to the Massachusetts Fire Marshal.
A 2018 fire at a commercial compost facility in Albuquerque was caused by spontaneous combustion, according to the Bernalillo County Extension.