Burning smell fills air, some residents upset

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Some residents in DeKalb County are concerned after a strong burning smell has filled the air for four days.

“It was just unbearable and very profound smell that was actually aggravating,” said DeKalb County resident and registered nurse, Erika Stubbs.

Nurse Stubbs said she first noticed the smell Sunday morning as she arrived to teach a class at her school, Life Solutions for Health.

“I smelled this horrible smell,” said Stubbs.  “I did not know where it was coming from, I was thinking that my car was on fire and as I approached the building it just became more profound.”

Officials with DeKalb County told FOX 5’s Nathalie Pozo that a compost fire naturally started at the DeKalb County Seminole Road Landfill Saturday evening. Sanitation crews were able to put it out quickly, but are still dealing with hot spots that they continue to monitor four days later.

“I saw smoke,” said Grayling Hillman who was dropping off yard waste Tuesday and said he saw the blackened ground and water trucks.  “I smelled it; I thought it was kind of unusual.”

A spokesperson for the county said there was not a health or safety threat, so residents were not notified.

Nurse Stubbs who worked at Grady Memorial Hospital for 17 years disagrees, adding that those with respiratory problems were put at risk

“Therefore their exposure to the outside could have been limited,” said Stubbs. “If they needed to take a mask, wear a mask when they were outside that could have been taken into action as well.”  “As a taxpayer of DeKalb County we should have been notified.”

There is a burn ban in place in DeKalb County through September 30.