AUBURN – A pile of mulch caught on fire Sunday night and had firefighters working for two and a half hours to extinguish it.

“The pile of mulch was about as high as a four-story building,” Auburn Fire platoon Chief Paul Blanchard said.

“When we got there, the pile was fully involved.”

Blanchard said the biggest problem with the fire was finding hydrants to get water to the fairly remote area at 100 Bark Mulch Drive.

Even after they got water to the scene, simply dousing the pile was not enough.

“Mulch fires burn deep,” Blanchard explained.

“We had to get the company that owns the mulch to come in with excavating equipment to break the pile down.”

As the excavating equipment spread the burning mulch out, firefighters sprayed it with water.

The burning pile was among many other piles of mulch at the former Morse Brothers bark mulch yard off of West Hardscrabble Road. The yard was recently bought by Commercial Paving.

The fire was first reported at 7 p.m. by a LifeFlight helicopter flying overhead.

According to Blanchard, Auburn firefighters, assisted by the Poland Fire Department, had the flames out by 9:30 p.m.

Mechanic Falls and Minot fire departments covered Auburn’s calls while they were busy with the mulch fire.

Blanchard was not sure how the fire started, but said internal combustion is a possibility.

“We’ve been out there before for the same type of problem,” he said. “We’re not considering the fire suspicious.”