FARMINGTON — Firefighters sprayed water on a pile of burning garbage at the trash collection site for Archie’s Inc. on Poverty Lane on Wednesday.

Workers for the company had just picked up dumpster garbage at a couple of local homes and were driving on Route 2 when they noticed smoke coming from the back of the truck, John Haviland, a supervisor for Archie’s in Farmington, said.

He was training a new employee and was driving the truck. He drove to the collection site and dumped the load on the ground, he said.

Haviland and firefighters suspect ashes put in the dumpster may have started to smolder.

It has happened before when the truck wasn’t near the trash site, so the load was dumped in the road, he said.

Putting ashes in a dumpster near a home could cause a house fire, Haviland reminded customers.

The garbage will be left out overnight to ensure the fire is out and picked up Thursday, he said.

Members of Farmington Fire and Rescue responded to the call at about 12:30 p.m.

abryant@sunjournal.com