Fire chief says NFM mulch site “danger to the community,” issues stop work order

A stop work order has been issued for the intake of new material at an MW horticulture site in North Fort Myers due to non-compliance with fire code. The site will not be able to bring in new material for their business until the order is lifted.

Larry Nisbet, fire chief of Bayshore Fire Protection and Rescue, said the stop order was also issued because of continued fires. Nisbet said it’s a danger to the community and [MW horticulture] cannot manage the site.

MORE: Who is responsible for the mulch fire in North Fort Myers?

“As fire chief, I can’t continue to dedicate resources to this” and neglect the community, Nisbet said. “We’re not in the business of putting business out of business but” we have a community to protect.

Denise Houghtaling with WM Horticulture said in a statement:

“We stopped taking in material at our north yard this morning before the stop work order was issued due to a small fire. We are continuing to process our material and are open for pickup of topsoil, compost or mulch. We expect our north yard to be back open for material intake later this week. Our south yard is fully operational.

For the North Fort Myers MW horticulture site to have the designation lifted, it will need to put more resources towards it. However, the issuance does not alleviate their responsibility to remove the pile by the hearing examiner’s deadline.

MORE: No decision made regarding the North Fort Myers mulch fire