Disposing of hot ash

Published on 14 August 2024

Many of our residents enjoy a wood fired heater during winter, but without care it can quickly become a hazard. One of the easiest ways fires can start is by not disposing properly of hot ashes. Ashes can stay hot long after a fire has gone out and they can (and do) start fires in household rubbish bins. Hot ashes can also started fires in rubbish trucks and in green waste piles at transfer stations.

Recently we have had an incident where someone disposed of hot ashes in the green waste at one of our transfer stations. Hot ashes should not be disposed of at the transfer station at all.

The best approach – bucket, bag it and bin it.

• Using a small metal shovel, scoop ash from your fireplace into a metal bucket with a lid. It's really important that you only use a metal bucket or container and not something that could easily catch fire from any residual heat left in the ashes such as plastic or cardboard.
• Take the bucket outside, away from any buildings, and douse with water.
• Leave to cool for at least 5 days but do not leave it in there for too long as the ashes are highly caustic and can rust out the metal bucket.

Once the ash has been safely cooled empty the cold ash into a sealed bag (so it doesn't cause a mess when your bin is emptied) and place it into your rubbish bin.